


Book 2: Awakening

by Silvandar



Series: Legacy - OtaYuri Occult AU [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Character Death, Climate Catastrophe, Climate Change, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, First Meetings, Gay Sex, Gentle Sex, Hoodoo, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, M/M, Magic, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, Near Death, Not Really Character Death, Pseudo-History, Sex, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Supernatural Illnesses, Temporary Character Death, Warlocks, Were-Creatures, Witchcraft, otayuri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-02-28 10:49:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18754939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvandar/pseuds/Silvandar
Summary: Illforte Academy is a hidden sanctuary for a wide variety of occult creatures, human hybrids and people born with magical abilities. Taking students from 18 years old and upwards, it has been a haven for magical creatures for as long as anyone can remember. Within its walls, the inhabitants are safe... safe from the torches and pitchforks of the humans that is, not necessarily safe from each other.The past unfolds in the sequel to "Book 1: Legacy", as Yuri approaches his 21st birthday and the Awakening of his past life memories. Follow the threads of history around the founding of Illforte, and discover the truth behind Yuri's curse.Book 2 / 3Visit theLegacy Discordto chat about the fic





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It begins! Thank you all for reading!

The summer sun was already near the red line, and it wasn't even 10am yet. Relentless heat shimmered across the river valley, and the water steamed as it evaporated. Calls from the building site summoned the workers indoors as the temperature rose, voices echoing down into the quarry.

Work on the house had started a year ago, initially as a small wooden longhouse built in the ever-present shade of the mountains. When a group of strangers arrived seeking sanctuary from the human world, Yuri's first instinct had been to turn them away, wary and distrustful of anyone new. He had been overruled and eventually accepted their presence, but it quickly became apparent that they would need more space.

His foster father, Yakov, had come up with the design, after Yuri explained the basics of quarrying and confirmed that the stone in the area was suitable for building. Part of being a witch was knowing as much as possible about the natural world around him and how to access it safely and without causing unnecessary damage. His idea was simple – quarry for the building materials they needed, then divert the river into the hole once they'd finished and create a lake. That much water would create a haven for wildlife and help the balance of the valley, as well as make it more viable for a settlement to grow. Using the magical abilities of his foster parents to do the heavy work, the witch took charge of the planning and execution of the build.

Assessing the quarry before he left for the day, Yuri wiped sweat from his forehead, noticing a few unsecured tarps over the site. Shouting for the others to get to shelter, he moved quickly and confidently, temporarily ignoring the scorching heat in order to protect the building materials from the unpredictable weather. Once the site was covered properly he scaled the ladder from the quarry and dashed for safety, aware that the skin on his shoulders and arms was beginning to blister and his long blonde braid was starting to smell like burning hair.

“Yuri Yakovich Ivanov, what were you _thinking?!_ ” Yuri winced at the cutting tone of his foster mother and ducked, trying to hide the damage. Ignoring his yelp of pain, Lilia grabbed his arm and dragged him across the hall into the communal sleeping area, forcing him to sit on her bunk as she began treating the second degree sunburn that had taken only minutes to sear his skin.

“I had to cover the site, or we'd have lost half the fresh bricks before tonight...”

“ _Are you talking back to me, young man?_ ”

“No ma'am!”

The ointment she applied was soothing and the bandages cool, and even her scolding made him feel better. The anger was her way of showing how much she cared, and he loved her for it. Wincing as she finished and gave him a clip around the ear to send him on his way, he noticed a few of the younger residents giving him amused looks and rolled his eyes.

The population had grown again with the arrival of a family of werewolves, the youngest still in swaddling. Yakov had taken them in with a stern look on his face, eyes narrowed and lip curled. Only Yuri and Lilia recognised the rage and grief as he saw the slow healing injuries on the adults from the silver weapons, and the malnourished state of the children.

Unfortunately their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed; they'd been followed by a group of humans keen to hunt down the 'monsters' and it had taken some rapid creative thinking from Yakov and Lilia to hide the valley from their sight. Since then, barriers had been erected along the treeline, trusting the treacherous mountains to guard their backs. Yuri was responsible for any physical reaction needed to protect the sanctuary.

“You'd better come look at this.”

The lookout's voice was shocked, and Yuri was at the door in a flash. His eyes widened as he stared out across the valley, the vantage point of the building providing a clear view almost to the tree line. “What the _fuck_ ” he breathed, then recovered himself. “Get Yakov, now!”

Walking along the path of the river, completely ignoring the merciless heat of the sun, was a single figure. Short and male, judging by the shoulders-to-waist ratio, Yuri could just about see a light tan and brunette hair. The stranger was carrying a travelling bag and dressed in ill-fitting clothes, too big and hanging off his slender frame, scorched and smoking in patches from the vast heat. As Yuri watched, he walked past a patch of smouldering grass and stubbed it out with his foot before it could become a real fire.

“How... how is he alive” Yuri murmured, as Yakov joined him at the door. The magical barrier across the unfinished arch kept the heat out, but allowed them to clearly see the progress of the stranger as he made his way up the valley.

“He's either insanely tough, or has some type of regeneration ability” Yakov mused.

“Dangerous then” Yuri frowned, easing his fingers into the enchanted knuckle dusters he always kept in his pockets. “Will he be able to get in?”

“Unlikely” Yakov shrugged. Lowering his voice so only Yuri could hear, he added “if he does, you distract him so Lilia can contain him.

“Understood.”

“E... excuse me! Sorry to trespass but i-is this Illforte House?”

Yuri blinked, tilting his head. The man's voice was deep and rich, speaking in strongly accented Russian. Beside him, Yakov raised an impassive eyebrow.

“I was told I might find sanctuary here” the stranger continued, cresting the brow of the hill. Closer, Yuri could see fully lips and high cheekbones, with dark, angular eyes. He realised he was holding his breath, and exhaled sharply. Next to him, the warlock chuckled knowingly and gave him a nudge.

“Invite him in, Yuri. You're responsible for him until he's been checked out.”

The barrier over the doorway glittered as Yakov adjusted it to allow the newcomer inside. Stepping into the shade of the building, the man winced and ran his hands through his hair, sighing with relief. “Thank you... it's hot out there today.”

“H-hot? It's over 120 degrees Fahrenheit! You should be dead” Yuri snapped, thrusting a canteen of water at the stranger. Taking it gratefully, he tipped his head back and drank, and the blonde found his eyes fixed on a drop of water that ran down the length of his neck. Shaking himself, Yuri sent the curious onlookers packing with a wave of his hand, leading the stranger to the side of the room to an empty bunk. “You can sleep here for now. Do you have a name?”

“Otabek Altin” the brunette dropped gratefully onto the bed and handed the canteen back, and Yuri realised he'd politely left enough inside for another drink.

“Finish it, you need it. Altin... how did you hear about this place?”

“I met a... creature... higher in the mountains who said you took in... unusual people. I needed somewhere to go... somewhere safe.”

Folding his arms, Yuri noted the downcast shift of Otabek's eyes and the tension in his shoulders. “Safe _for_ you, or _from_ you” he demanded, and the smaller man flinched.

“Both... although I'm only dangerous at certain times... it's fine as long as I can be c-contained...”

“You're a werewolf.” It wasn't a question, but Otabek shook his head.

“Similar... but not quite. I'm a weretiger.” Noticing the stunned look on Yuri's face, he grimaced. “I would show you but I can't c-control myself at the moment...”

“Have you ever killed anyone?” The blonde's voice was calm but his tone brooked no nonsense, and Otabek nodded, scrubbing a tear from his cheeks as he bowed his head. The guilt he felt over the admission was clear, and Yuri chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully. “OK. We can give you a place, and contain you during the full moon... but you'll have to agree to our terms.”

The weretiger's face lit up with hope and he jumped to his feet, eyes huge. “You'll... you'll help me? I... I don't have to worry about hurting anyone?”

“The terms are harsh” Yuri warned. “If you break them and kill someone, the punishment will be worse than death for you. It's an effective deterrent for people wanting to use this place as a source of prey...” he flushed as Otabek lunged forward, gripping his shoulders as fresh tears ran down his face.

“Good! I... I don't want to kill anyone ever again! I'll agree to whatever you want, just please... please help me...”

“Alright Altin... alright.” The weretiger slumped into his arms and a fierce protectiveness flooded the witch. Holding him gently, he rubbed his shoulders soothingly as the smaller man trembled against him. “It's OK... I've got you” he murmured against his scalp, and the weretiger sighed in relief.


	2. Chapter 2

_Voices swirl around him, soft whispers on the edge of his awareness. He knows the voices, loves them well, but they are not enough to call him back from the ocean of memory. He floats in his own history, a passive receiver; unable to direct, only watch the unfurling of time._

_“How long does this usually last?” Yuuri, worried._

_“It's getting longer each time. Last time he was unconscious for nearly a week.” Yakov, emotions tightly controlled._

_“What if he doesn't wake up...” Otabek. The sound of his voice doubles in his mind, mingling with the memories._

_“We've prepared for this... we're keeping him hydrated and warm. We're doing all we can.”_

_He lets go, floating away from them and back towards the past. As they disappear from his mind, a new voice takes over. He recognises it now, knows it is himself, the tones deeper and older, Moscow accent stronger. Reaching for it, he sinks beneath the waves again._

* * *

“When we decided to build a permanent structure, Yakov dug around in his books for some design ideas. We came up with the concept of a Germanic castle, with towers at each cardinal point to make best use of the space. A place like that needed a solid foundation, so we built in a network of basements.”

Otabek stared around the room, noting the four ironwork cages. “You already have weres here?”

“A family of werewolves. They arrived a few months ago, and asked us to build these for them. Would something like this be suitable for you?”

Curling his lip, Otabek nodded.

“What's wrong?” Watching the weretiger's reaction, Yuri put his head on one side. It was obvious that the idea of being caged bothered him, odd considering the werewolves were so used to it.

“I just... it's nothing. These cages... can you make a bigger one?”

“Bigger? How much bigger?”

“At least three times the size.”

Yuri went pale. “How big do you get??”

“I've lost a bit of weight recently, but if I eat right I'm around 400lbs. Nose to tail, over six feet.”

Taking a step back, Yuri reappraised the weretiger. “That's insane. How strong are you?” Otabek shrugged and then lifted one of the heavy iron cages with two of his fingers., chuckling as Yuri gaped.

“Well then... bigger isn't a problem... and you can _definitely_ work in the quarry. Lilia will be glad of the help.”

“W-what?”

* * *

“Having a mage on hand is useful” Yuri pointed to where Lilia was manoeuvring a dozen blocks up from the quarry and to the foundation of the first tower, using her magic to float the stones. “Those weigh a half a ton each, I know because I cut them myself. Do you think you can move them?”

“Not as many... maybe one or two at a time?”

“You can work in the heat, right? If you take breaks and have plenty of water?”

Otabek nodded, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “It's not pleasant, but I don't get burned... my skin is too strong for that. Most weapons won't cut me, either.”

Yuri folded his arms, surveying the site. “If I focus my team on stone cutting, you could move the blocks during the day when the rest of us need to take shelter?”

“That wouldn't be a problem.”

“Incredible... you'd double the speed of the build, easily. We're restricted by the amount of time we can be outside... it's not safe for Lilia to move heavy blocks in the dark, and we don't want to risk discovery from lighting the whole area at night, so we spend that time cutting and setting up the gantry's for dawn.” Yuri lowered his voice into a whisper. “Lilia feels guilty because the build has to go at _her_ pace... even though we all tell her that's ridiculous. Without her this would have been impossible... but she's only one person, she can only do so much before she's exhausted just like the rest of us.”

“I understand.” Otabek looked at the building thoughtfully. “If you can design a better weight system, I can set blocks during the day as well once you've cut enough. My... my father taught me how to build... the only difficulty would be handling the blocks at height.”

Filing away the hesitation when Otabek spoke about his family for later inspection, Yuri clasped his shoulder. “Yakov can figure that out, he's a genius when it comes to math. You're going to be a real asset to this place, I can tell.”

The weretiger blushed and ducked his head, and Yuri felt a flutter in his stomach. _Damn..._ not _the time to get a crush, idiot!_ Giving Otabek a little shove and discovering that it was like pushing a wall, Yuri indicated the house. “Let's grab some dinner and look over the designs for your cage.”

* * *

Howls and roars echoed through the basement corridors, the force of the sounds shaking the door to the room that had been dubbed “Were Pit” by some of the residents. Yuri leaned against the wood and turned up the volume on his MP3 player, wincing at the excessive use of the battery required to drown out the horrible sounds. He'd picked up the power pack in Moscow before they left, trading it for a quart of the vodka he distilled as currency. Advertised as a “lifetime battery”, it claimed to have 25 years of power on regular use, but since he had no way of recharging it out here he was trying to make it last.

Oh, but thinking about Moscow _hurt_ , and he closed his eyes as the electro-rock playlist filled his ears. The water riots and food shortages had made their relatively self sustained lifestyle stand out too much; given the choice between suffering and blending in, or being comfortable and leaving, the three of them had packed up and fled west, searching for a place isolated from frightened, angry humans.

Otabek had also faced that decision, Yuri suspected, but had made a different choice. Seeking safety and sanctuary within a community at the expense of the monthly torture of shackles and a cage was a monumental act of bravery, one Yuri wasn't sure he would ever be able to match. He could have enjoyed freedom from suffering, but clearly he felt the cost was too high; the risk of killing again too great. Before the full moon hit properly, the weretiger signed the Charter and told Yuri the story of how he came to Ilforte, sobbing brokenly as he described his hunger, his reliance on tiger form and the loss of control that brought, and the act of desperation that led to him becoming a murderer. Yuri's heart had ached, and he'd wrapped the smaller man in his arms and held him until Otabek cried himself to sleep.

A knock on the door behind him stirred Yuri from his thoughts some hours later, and he switched off his music before pulling it open. One of the werewolf children beckoned him inside with a distressed gesture, and Yuri followed him warily. His parents were stood beside the huge cell that Yakov and Lilia had built for Otabek, cutting off their conversation when Yuri approached.

“He won't unchain himself or come out... I think he's crying.”

“Leave me with him, you go clean up” Yuri said gently, trying not to wince at the foul smell in the room. Gratefully they gathered up their kids and left, promising to come back and help clean up Otabek's cage later. Once the room was quiet, Yuri stood beside the cell.

Like the smaller wolf cages, it was designed to be opened from the inside only, providing another barrier against escape when they were in animal form. Curling his fingers through the bars, Yuri looked at the shackled weretiger as he lay hunched on the filthy floor. Emotion sat hot and heavy in his throat at the sight of the shivering, sobbing man, but he hardened his heart. He had to get Otabek moving, he could console him once he was cleaned up, hydrated and dressed.

“Lying in your own shit is a terrible look, Otabek. Get up.”

The weretiger flinched at the iron in Yuri's voice, but didn't move.

“Yakov _just_ built this cage for you, don't make me tear it apart to get you out.”

Slowly, Otabek raised his head and Yuri's heart broke at the pain in his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he removed his hand from the bar and watched Otabek's expression as flames began to lick from his fingertips.

“Melting steel isn't a problem for me” he added, “but if Yakov kicks my ass for it I'll be passing that on to you. With interest.”

“L-leave me alone...”

“Shut the fuck up” Yuri retorted, anger leaping instantly into his voice. “You're freaked out, covered in shit and freezing cold, like I'm going to leave you? _Get up, Otabek. Now._ ”

Dragging himself to his knees, the weretiger began removing his shackles with shaking hands. Yuri snuffed his flames and waited until he staggered to the door, catching an arm around his waist as Otabek pulled it open.

“D-don't... I'm filthy...”

“Shut up” Yuri said more gently, half carrying the weretiger through the arch into the bathing area next door. The wolves had finished cleaning up, and gave Yuri a grateful look as he lowered Otabek into fresh water.

“I've got him, it's OK. Look after yourselves.”

Otabek lowered his head as they left, flinching at their gentle words of compassion as if they wounded him. Kneeling beside the sunken bath, Yuri began washing the mess from the weretiger's body, filling him in on the activities of the house over the full moon to distract him. The soothing tone of voice and soft touches slowly unwound the tension in Otabek's shoulders, and he leaned against Yuri's chest once his hair was clean, dozing in the warmth.

The witch let him sleep as he cleared up the bathing area, only waking him once the water had cooled. Draining the tub, he set Otabek to dressing while he finished cleaning, then helped the exhausted weretiger back up the stairs onto the ground floor. Covering him with a blanket, Yuri considered his options and then dragged his own bed next to Otabek's, stripping out his wet clothes gladly. Watch duty for the were pit was shared, but Yuri always took the first and last watch; the times the weres were most likely to escape or cause havoc.

“How did it go?” Yakov's voice was quiet as he sat beside Yuri, tactfully making no comment about the relocation of his bunk.

“Hard. He's not used to being caged _at all_. I can't understand it... the others cope a lot better. It's like he's never been through it before.”

“Perhaps he hasn't. Maybe he's always lived wild?”

“That... doesn't track. He was devastated when he killed that man, if he'd lived wild until now it seems impossible that he wouldn't have killed before. We got lucky with this valley, there aren't that many isolated places in the world, even now.”

Gazing sympathetically at the weretiger, Yakov rested his hand on Yuri's shoulder and rose. “Find out how he managed before. If he's not used to cages, maybe there's something else we can do to help him. Putting him through this every month... the stress will kill him eventually. Strong as they are, even weres have their limits.”

Nodding, Yuri lay back on his bunk, watching Otabek sleep. The weretiger's face was pinched, his body curled in a tight, protective ball. The sight of so much pain hurt his heart, but exhaustion overtook him and the witch fell asleep with tears wetting his pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

“You can't go on like this, Beka.”

The weretiger raised tired eyes, pushing his half eaten meal away. He felt sick to his stomach, gesturing agreement as one of the kids requested the rest of his food. Coming out of the cage got harder each month, the stress and fatigue taking longer to wear off. He felt exhausted, heartsick and raw.

“I don't know what you mean.”

Yuri's moods were becoming familiar to him by now, and he barely flinched as the blonde hurled his cup at his head. Catching it in mid air, he calmly set it back down on the table between them.

“Yes you do, you know _exactly_ what I mean. The cage...”

“Is fine. I'm grateful.”

“ _It's ruining you._ You look awful... your aura is _fucked_ , I can _smell_ the stress coming off you...”

“You're a were now, with that sense of smell?”

“Don't make jokes. You can't go on like this!”

“I don't have a choice” Otabek shrugged, pushing himself away from the table and fighting a wave of nausea. “I want to stay here.”

“You've never been caged before, have you?”

Yuri's words sent ice down his back, and Otabek glared at him. “Of course I have...”

“You haven't. That's why it's stressing you so much in animal form. Tiger-you doesn't understand what's happening to it... it's terrified.”

“I...”

“How did you manage before? You must have done something... something you're not willing to do here. What was it?”

“Drop it, Yuri.”

“If you tell me, we might be able to help you do it again...”

“ _I said drop it!”_ The words came out as a growl, and Yuri folded his arms across his chest aggressively.

“I want to help you, Beka.”

“You can't help me. No-one can” Otabek snarled, stomping in the direction of the quarry. Yuri narrowed his eyes as he watched him go.

* * *

Otabek avoided him as much as possible for a few days, claiming to be busy or just ducking outside into the scorching sun if Yuri tried to grab him for a talk. His behaviour annoyed the blonde more and more, until eventually his patience snapped. Stalking Otabek through the slowly rising floors of the house, he eventually isolated him in one of the towers as the weretiger was prepping a gantry.

“We need to talk.”

“Sorry Yuri, I'm...”

“If you say you're busy, I'm going to set you and everything else in this room on fire.”

Otabek spun, shock on his face. He'd seen Yuri in action often enough to know he was perfectly capable of doing just that, and the tone of voice indicated he wasn't even remotely playing.

“W-what do you want?”

Blocking the doorway, Yuri put his hands on his hips, eyes narrow. “Tell me how you coped with full moon before you came here.”

“It... it doesn't matter. I can't live like that any more. I... I just want to forget about it!”

“Tell. Me.” The blonde was _steaming_ , heat rising off his body in waves. Otabek swallowed and backed away, wondering if Yuri's flames would hurt more than the brutal sun outside. He could run away by jumping off the half built tower, but that would be drastic action. Sighing, he closed his eyes.

“There was a... a potion. A friend of our family made it for us... my parents and I took it.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow. “A potion that stopped the change?”

“No! Not stopped, just made it... controllable. It let us keep our human minds, so we didn't hurt anyone when we were transformed.”

Leaning against the door frame, Yuri smothered his heat with difficulty and chewed his bottom lip. “Why is that such a hard thing to admit?”

“Because I can't make it!” Otabek's eyes filled with tears, and he sat heavily on a stone block. “The only person who could was a witch... but she's d-dead now. I don't even really know what was in it... I can remember the taste, and some of the ingredients, but... but even if I could, I can't make it myself. The ingredients are too dangerous for me to handle.”

“Does your family have the recipe?”

Otabek _crumpled,_ covering his face with his hands as he shook his head. Sobs shook his body, and Yuri was at his side instantly, wrapping his arms around him and cradling him against his chest. “Oh Beka... Beka I'm so sorry...”

“T-there was a r-raid on our village... men on bikes, with guns and swords... I w-was out hunting, my little s-sisters and p-parents were at h-home... my parents and I would take it in turns to fetch m-meat for the village, helping the h-humans who sh-sheltered us... when I g-got back I could smell burning...”

Yuri bowed his head, rocking Otabek in his arms as the weretiger wept. The pain and loss echoed in his memories of losing his grandfather to a mob when his magic was discovered. Tears pricked his eyes and he tightened his grip, holding on to Otabek as his heart broke.

“Th-they fought, all of them d-did, even though my sisters were too young to ch-change... but the swords were s-silver, and the h-humans were peaceful... I f-found them all piled up in the middle of the v-village... the humans had taken everything valuable and burned the houses... there was nothing l-left and my f-family was d-dead...”

“Beka...” Yuri's voice shook with emotion as he soothed the weretiger, and Otabek shuddered as he rested against his chest. “I'm so sorry... so, so sorry...”

They sat for a while, Otabek muffling his sobs in Yuri's shirt as he fought to get himself back under control. When he felt able to raise his head, he saw tracks of tears on the witch's face.

“You lost someone too.”

“Yes... we all have” Yuri sighed, brushing the tears from Otabek's cheeks tenderly. “I... I understand why you didn't want to tell me. I'm not sorry for pushing though” he added, and Otabek frowned.

“That's...”

“I'm _very_ good with potions” the witch interrupted, “If you can remember the main ingredients, I can probably figure the rest out. I can make it for you here.”

Hope raced across Otabek's face, and he straightened up. “You... you mean that?”

“I can try... what can you tell me about it?”

Thinking hard, Otabek tried to recall his mother's warnings about the potion. “It tasted awful... like soap and bark.”

“Flowery soap? Or smokey soap?”

“Both, I think.”

“OK. What can you remember about the dangerous ingredient?”

“Not much... it grew near our village, we were taught how to recognise it and to keep well away from it. It had weird purple flowers and spiky leaves, but it didn't smell much. Mother said it was why the potion had a bitter taste, sort of acrid...”

Yuri shot to his feet, his face going pale. “ _Aconite_? You were drinking _wolfsbane_??? That's _poisonous_ for weres!”

“That's what my mother told us... that it was poisonous, and we must never touch it. The witch who made the potion for us used the leaves, I think... she'd weigh us a couple of times a year, she said it was to make sure the dose was right...”

Pacing, Yuri wracked his brain. “OK... the effects of the aconite would be really painful, even it was dosed correctly... the soapy tastes were probably painkillers, maybe willowbark and lavender... a little chamomile to soothe the stomach... still, it must have been agonising to take.”

“It... wasn't fun” Otabek nodded, grimacing.

“Better than a cage though... plus you'd be able to live around humans and defend yourselves if you needed to... but...” glancing at Otabek, he knelt down in front of him. “Can I ask you a question about your parents?”

“Yes...”

“Were they ever sick? Not from the potion, but in general?”

“They... father was getting weaker, but he said that was normal for his age.”

“How old was he?”

“Thirty eight... my grandparents were about fifty when they d-died.”

* * *

“It's poison. His family have been using it for generations... but it kills them _young._ Weres usually outlive humans by several lifespans, but in his family, they all die around mid fifties. I... I can't make this for him.” Yuri paced the room, picking at the stonework absently as he thought. Yakov and Lilia watched him, their expressions carefully neutral.

“Quality of life over quantity” Yakov reminded him, and Yuri snarled.

“I _know_ that... but it's not just that. If I get the dose wrong I'll kill him, probably very quickly. Even the fumes of the potion would be fatal... and not just to him, but to any of the other weres in the castle.”

Lilia steepled her fingers, a sure sign that she was about to say something he didn't want to hear. He grimaced at her, but let her speak.

“If he doesn't get the potion, the stress of being caged will kill him anyway. Or he'll manage to escape, and kill someone else... and you know what will happen if he breaks the charter.”

Throwing himself onto a stool, Yuri put his head in his hands. “This is a nightmare... I wish I'd never asked...”

“You did the right thing” Yakov said, firmly. “We had to know... and now we do, and he has options. _Can_ you make it, even without the original recipe?”

“Yes” Yuri sighed, “the base ingredients are an elaborate pain relief, the only unknown factor is the aconite. I've used poisons in remedies before though, I know the principles of adjusting the dose. I just need to weigh him while he's in tiger form, and check the virility of whatever aconite subtype I use. I can do that with some hair samples.”

“So you need Lilia to keep him contained while you take the samples and measurements, and find a source of aconite. Shouldn't be too hard. I can ward the basement against escape and we can cage him, then get him to change form. Lilia can knock him out once you're done, and as long as it's not full moon he should change back to human once he's unconscious.”

“You make it sound so easy. He's going to be a furious half ton of tiger.”

Yakov shrugged. “You've been dying to know what he looks like, don't pretend otherwise.”

Glaring at his foster father, Yuri sagged. “He won't like having to turn in front of us.”

“He'll get over it.”

“ _I don't like it either._ Yakov... I can't do this. I won't.” Lowering his head, Yuri bit his lip. “Not without telling him the truth about the potion first. You say it's his choice? He can't chose unless he knows all the facts.”


	4. Chapter 4

With the onset of winter, the build on the house ground to a halt. High winds made working the gantries impossible, and the quarry alternated between flooding and freezing. Already low temperatures dipped into the hypothermic range as soon as the weak sun set, and the sound of trees exploding from frost echoed in the mountains in the depths of the night. Snow fell heavily, and fires were lit within the halls 24/7 to keep the bone deep chill at bay. Without the magical abilities of the three founders, it would have been impossible to survive there; as it was, Yakov could multiply the stores of food and fuel for the fires, Lilia used her magic to keep the plumbing and chimneys clear and make sure the water was clean and safe to drink, and Yuri kept the worst of the winter diseases under control with his myriad of potions and remedies. One potion though remained unmade.

The conversation between Yuri and Otabek about the aconite potion had been difficult. Otabek had been horrified by Yuri's revelations, at first unwilling to accept the truth until the witch had brought in the other weres to give their opinion. Torn between wanting the potion, and fearing the side effects, Otabek was troubled and distracted, unable to sleep properly and often found patrolling the outskirts of the castle in the snow. Yuri consoled himself with making preparations in case Otabek decided to go ahead with the potion once the winter had passed and Yuri could leave to find a source of aconite.

Idle hands turned to creating furniture and decorations for the interior of the castle, and Yuri was pleased to find a number of the residents had skills in working with wood, metals and fabrics. Illforte had three floors now, and two of the towers were completely finished, so the population could finally spread out and get some much needed privacy. East tower was the most complete, so the residents moved out of the hall before the winter really set in, staking out individual rooms and starting to make the place look and feel like a home.

Yakov, Lilia and Yuri had each been allocated suites on the third floor, despite their protests about not needing that much space; they'd initially conceived the suites as family units. Yakov and Lilia were especially confused as to why they'd been given one each, but once she realised how many books and artefacts Yakov had secretly conjured and built since they left Moscow, Lilia was relieved to have her own rooms. Yuri luxuriated in the space, delighted at the peace and quiet and happily setting up an elaborate potion lab in the most ventilated area of the suite.

It was only as he approached bedtime on the first day that it dawned on him... he was going to be sleeping alone. For months, he'd slept curled up next to Otabek, their beds pushed together so they could talk without disturbing anyone else. On full moons, he spent his nights outside the Were Pit standing guard, dozing fitfully in the main hall during the hottest parts of the day but unable to properly sleep without the sound of the weretiger's breathing next to him. He hadn't slept alone since Otabek's first full moon, and the prospect filled him with unexpected loneliness.

Padding miserably down through the corridors of the house, he found his way into the old dormitory, the main hall which had now become a universal dining room and lounge. Otabek was already there, laid out on one of the long couches, forearm blocking the light from his eyes. Unsurprised at the weretiger's presence, Yuri leaned on the wall and raised an eyebrow.

“Couldn't sleep?”

Otabek looked up, the tiny crinkle of his eyebrows indicating he was fighting a smile. “Didn't even try. It's not the same...”

“... without you” Yuri finished, nodding. Taking a deep breath, he extended a shaking hand to the weretiger. Otabek rose and took it, letting Yuri lead him upstairs to his suite.

“Yuri... is this really OK?”

“It's late” Yuri said, kicking the door shut behind them and heading to the bedroom. He felt high from nerves, but he refused to spend the night alone. His palm tingled from the feel of the weretiger's hand, a ghost sensation on his fingers as he let him go reluctantly. “Talk tomorrow?” he begged, unable to face the questions hovering on the weretiger's lips.

“I can sleep on the floor...”

Giving Otabek an amused look, Yuri hopped into the huge canopy bed and pulled the covers up to his chin, leaving the other side for the weretiger. “Sleep now, worry later” he murmured, patting the bed and closing his eyes. The mattress creaked as Otabek got in next to him, and he sighed softly, wriggling so the other man could share the blankets. Snuggling down, Yuri purred happily at the warmth, nestling as close to him as he dared without touching him. “You're boiling hot” he muttered, and Otabek snuffled with laughter.

“You just noticed?”

“I mean, I knew... but I didn't appreciate it before.”

“If it gets too much...”

“Not gonna happen. I'm an icicle” Yuri pressed his toes against Otabek's ankle and the smaller man squeaked at the chill.

“You really are! Why?!”

“Side effect of magic” Yuri shrugged, “I'm always out of balance... the more elements you can throw around, the worse it gets. My body's always cold, it takes a lot to warm me up.”

“I didn't know that” Otabek tucked his feet around Yuri's, liking the way the blonde murmured in appreciation. “Magic... I heard a rumour that you're the strongest witch here... is it true?”

“Mmm... witchcraft isn't really about _strength_... it's more about knowledge, and practical skills. I mean, you can be a witch without being able to manipulate more than one element... but the more elements you can use, the easier it is to do some types of spellcraft. Plus, you have extra weapons if you need them.”

“Weapons... like your flames?”

“The others can be just as dangerous... I can freeze people solid, draw all the air out of their lungs, or fill their mouths and nose with water... animals are very fragile, humans included... they break easily.”

“You... you've h-hurt people before?”

Yuri opened his eyes, watching the candlelight flickering over Otabek's skin. The weretiger looked desperately sad and still wrapped in his own guilt. Sighing, Yuri unwound himself from the blankets and took Otabek's hands between his own, tugging them closer together.

“Yes... and for far less than you had to. I've killed to protect and defend, and to survive... but I've also killed because it was the most efficient way of dealing with a problem. That was before I met Yakov... when I was alone. The city was a brutal place to be a child without family... I did what I thought I had to do.”

“My village was far away from Almaty, but we heard stories sometimes of life there... gangs, riots, the starvation, the pollution... and the elites that controlled everything... was Moscow like that?”

“Worse” Yuri pressed his forehead against Otabek's shoulder, realising that they'd cuddled together almost unconsciously until they were wrapped in each other's arms. The warmth was overwhelming, but the closeness of the weretiger affected more than just his temperature. Yuri tried to ignore how easy it would be to turn his head and steal a kiss... with difficulty, he forced himself to focus on the question. “There was usually only a small amount of work in the Centre, but if you got a shift, you'd be fed and given new clothes if yours were torn... the bosses didn't want the staff to look a mess... it was worth fighting for, but it was hard to get... ” He shuddered at the memories and Otabek tightened his arms around him.

“You don't have to tell me...”

Shaking his head, Yuri continued, the desire to purge himself of the memories prompting him to speak. “It was like a sport for them... the bosses placed huge bets, watching from screens in their towers... everyone was put into teams and given basic weapons, and there was a part of the city they closed off for it, cameras everywhere so they could see what happened... the winning team got the shifts that month, and all the bonuses that went with it. They got to live in the Centre while they worked, and send supplies back to their families if they wanted to. The losers got kicked back onto the streets with a single food parcel and basic treatment for their injuries... to make sure they'd have enough competitors for the next game.”

“My god... You... did you...” horrified, Otabek couldn't finish the question, but Yuri nodded sadly.

“For a while, yeah... it was the only way I could survive... if you could get in with a strong team, you could keep working and living in the Centre for months, even years. The thing is, people hold grudges. In the battles, it was safer to just kill your enemies... you'd get a reputation for being ruthless, and the team would be more likely to keep you on. If you left your enemies alive you might be seen as weak, lose your place on the team and you'd wind up getting stabbed in your sleep once you were back in the Outer City.”

“That's...”

“It's in the past” Yuri shook his head, deliberately forcing his body to relax. His fingers ached where he'd gripped Otabek's immobile skin too hard as he was lost in his memories, and he stretched his limbs as best he could without dislodging the weretiger. Otabek moved to release him and he whimpered in protest.

“Don't let go...” he murmured, and Otabek immediately wrapped around him again, burying his face in Yuri's shoulder. They lay together in silence, unwinding slowly and listening to the sound of each other's heartbeat. The weretiger's pulse was strong and loud, pounding slowly against Yuri's chest as he rested in the taller man's arms.

“We should have done this months ago” Yuri sighed, running his fingers through Otabek's hair. The weretiger nodded against his skin, a soft rumble in his chest. “Otabek, are you _purring_?”

“No...”

“You _are_ ” Yuri laughed, tilting Otabek's chin to look at him. The flush on the weretiger's cheeks was painfully cute, and the blonde shook his head. “You're _purring_... that's adorable...”

“Not purring... not adorable” Otabek protested, fighting a smile, and Yuri chuckled.

“Liar.”

“Not a liar” the weretiger retorted, nudging their noses together. His eyes dropped to Yuri's lips, and the blonde felt his heart leap up into his throat.

“Yes... such a liar” he teased, brushing the tip of his nose against Otabek's as he felt fingers drifting into his hair, every nerve in his body tingling and throbbing as they closed the distance between them. Their lips touched for the briefest of moments and at the sensation both of them sighed in relief. The gust of breath over his skin drove Yuri forward, claiming Otabek's lips fully with a murmur of desire.

They flowed together like water, tangling limbs as the kiss deepened, losing themselves in each other for the longest time. Overwhelmed by the shift in their friendship, they whispered secrets to each other late into the night, chaste and gentle in their touches despite the desire that burned between them. Dawn found them still awake, kissing and talking softly, the witch nestled in the weretiger's arms to soak up his warmth while the smaller man stroked his long hair and purred against his lips.

The pair descended the stairs together for breakfast, ignoring the amused looks of the other residents at the sight of their linked hands and matching flushed, surprised expressions. Yakov glanced up once from his oatmeal and sighed, shaking his head as he looked at them. “About damn time” he muttered, and Lilia sympathetically patted his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm screaming, they're so cuuuuute <3


	5. Chapter 5

A blizzard had raged for days, driving the population of Illforte House indoors for safety and warmth, all attempts at logging and gathering abandoned. The temperature plummeted to well below freezing, and the interior walls of the house developed a near permanent sheen of frost. Even though the snow had eased, it was still miserably cold and dampness had set in. As full moon descended and all the weres locked themselves in their cages, Yuri prepared for a cold, uncomfortable vigil beside the basement door. Isolated from the rest of the house, he didn't realise there was something wrong until one of Yakov's imps popped out of thin air next to him and jabbered an urgent message in painfully high pitched squeaks.

Yakov and Lilia were at the main door, keeping watch through the rectangular peephole. Once he reached the main castle, Yuri could hear strange noises that had been muffled by the roars of the tiger in the were pit.

“What's going on? Your imp was nearly unintelligible this time.”

“Summoned it in a hurry. Wasn't sure where you were.”

“Were pit, where else? It's full moon...”

Lilia waved a hand impatiently, and Yuri stopped talking. “There's something outside” she gestured to the window, and the witch frowned.

“The noises?”

“It's killing the livestock” Yakov growled, and Yuri's eyes narrowed. There was a small herd of sheep and a number of goats that supplied Illforte with basic resources, stabled safely near the quarry on the basis that it would eventually be a lake. The animals were protected from the blizzard, and Yuri had made sure they had enough water and food to last a few days. They weren't essential for life in the valley, but they represented more than just wool and milk... the animals were signs of a growing, thriving community and the hopes they all had for the future.

Gritting his teeth, Yuri pulled open the main door and peered out, narrowing his eyes against the glare from the snow. The sounds of terrified animals was joined by a strange, low huffing that he didn't recognise.

“None of the weres got out, did they?” Lilia demanded.

“Course not... I'd be dragging them back by the tails if they had.”

“Then what _is_ it?”

“Can you scout it, old man? I want to know what I'm getting into.”

Yakov nodded and returned to the hastily drawn magic circle he'd used to send his imp. Adjusting the runes with a piece of charcoal, he stepped inside it and began chanting softly, magic humming around him as the circle began to glow. After a few moments a disembodied eye formed just outside the door and began floating towards the quarry, bobbing a little as it moved. Yuri watched it go with a grimace, the energies used to make it feeling gritty against his skin. Warlock magic always made him itch.

After a few minutes, Yakov's eyes flew open and he staggered, a sign that his scrying Eye had been destroyed by something. Lilia caught him as he fell out of the circle and he drew ragged breaths, shivering from the residual pain.

“It's some sort of yeti... not a type I've seen before though. Bigger... glowing eyes, more fur, and a lot of rage. Not bipedal like the ones from Russia.”

Yuri swore. Yeti were mostly impervious to magic and ridiculously tough; it would take a full out melee assault to even irritate it. “Has it killed all the animals?”

“Yes... and it's eaten most of them... but it still seems to be hunting.”

Yuri curled his lip, glaring in the direction of the quarry. “How big is it?”

“Eight or nine feet... strong, too... most of the stable block has been destroyed.”

The three founders exchanged looks, considering the options. “What do you want to do?” Yuri asked, the ultimate decision lying with Yakov as always. The old man glared at the door and muttered curses under his breath.

“It's too dangerous... we should wait it out. It can't get into the castle, the wards are strong. It'll move off on its own... once the weather improves, you can take a party to track it down and deal with it.”

Nodding, Yuri set a watch on the door and resumed his post at the were pits. Even with the yeti outside, the risk to the household posed by a were escaping was far greater.

* * *

He was summoned back to the door a few hours later by one of his rangers. As a group they were calm, serious people who were used to the difficulties of working in the wilds. It took a lot to worry them, so the look of fear in her eyes when she came to fetch him wasn't something he'd dismiss easily. Padding into the hall, he found his team already assembled, Yakov and Lilia stood nearby.

“It's trying to get into the castle” Yakov said quietly, eyeing the entrance to the tower to make sure none of the children were in earshot.

“Your wards?”

“It broke them... just hammered itself against them until they failed. It's taken a lot of damage, but it's not stopping.”

Yuri frowned, looking at the silent door. “Where?”

“East side. It's trying to pull the bricks apart. Lilia hit it with some projectiles when it tried the door, hoping to frighten it off, but it just moved its attack point.”

“The walls weren't designed for this” Yuri shook his head, accepting his weapons from the head ranger. Slipping the belt around his hips, he checked to make sure all his knives and his sword were ready for use. “We're going to have to kill it” he added, and everyone muttered. “I _know_ ” he raised his hand, “it's trying to stay alive, just like us... but it's obviously got wind of the amount of prey in here. Yeti are smart... if we just scare it off today, it'll come back when it thinks we're weak. We _have_ to kill it.”

“What if it has young? Or a pregnant mate?” Lilia's expression was stern, and Yuri turned to face it, aware that even the toughest of his rangers were flinching under her fury.

“Then they'll probably die. I'd rather they die, than us.”

“Yuri...”

“It's a serious threat to the safety of the castle” Yakov interrupted her, “that makes it Yuri's decision.”

For a tense moment she glared at the old man, then her shoulders sagged and she nodded. “You're right, of course. I... I'll get the infirmary ready. You're probably going to need it.”

* * *

He picked up the smell of it before he saw it; a heavy, meaty odour mixed with wet fur and the sourness of faeces from the stable. Approaching upwind, Yuri gestured and the four rangers fanned out, cutting off escape to the foothills. The idea was a full assault, but the backup plan was to drive it over the edge of the quarry if they couldn't kill it outright, therefore controlling its direction of flight was essential. Not unlike trapping wounded deer, something they'd had to do in the past when a hunt hadn't been clean.

Claws scraped along the icy stone, digging into the mortar in the joints as the yeti worked to pry apart the wall. It was making headway, several large bricks were already loose, and Yuri could see the entire section would need to be rebuilt from the ground up to repair the damage... if they survived this fight, of course. Gritting his teeth, he indicated close range weapons only; one look at the way its muscles moved told him arrows and darts had no chance against the thickness of its skin and fur.

Yakov had been right, it was nothing like the yeti they'd seen in Russia. Those had been large humanoids, the 'Bigfoot' of legend. This one was quadrupedal, using its powerful front legs to support its weight when not tearing at the wall. Lacking a tail, its stature reminding Yuri of a bear, only weighing at least half a ton and covered with coarse, white fur. Its features were simian just like the northern yeti, but there was a ferocity about it that its Russian cousins lacked.

Drawing his sword, Yuri waited for it to focus on the wall again before launching himself from behind the snow-bank and attempting to drive his blade between its shoulder-blades. His attack was silent, yet the thing still picked up his approach in time to swing around, smacking him into the ground with bone jarring force. It roared in fury, raising up on its hind legs and preparing to stomp him into the ground, and he rolled to avoid the crushing blow. Winded, he dragged himself to his feet as the other rangers attacked, the yeti falling back under their lightning fast strikes.

Throwing himself back into the fray, Yuri cursed as he felt his weapon bite into the yeti's hide. The blow was as hard as he could manage, yet it still barely drew blood. The others were coming to similar realisations, but before he could give the order to switch to plan B he heard a scream and the horrible sound of claws ripping through flesh.

Two of his men had gone down under the yeti's attack, and even as he dived forward to help he saw its teeth close on one of them, ripping the ranger apart with a shake of its head. Shouting for the team to close ranks, he grabbed the other man to pull him out the way. As his hands closed around his collar, the head tipped back and he saw the blankness in his stare. Tears blurred his vision as he released the dead man and he returned to the battle, ordering the remaining rangers to drive the beast towards the quarry.

A third ranger went down, her blood bright against the snow as the massive claws tore through her body armour and sent her careening back towards the castle wall. The sound of her spine breaking as she hit the stones made Yuri howl with rage and his skin ignited, fire wrapping around him as he fought. The magical flames had no physical effect on the yeti, but it couldn't help its initial reaction to the sight of fire; before it realised it was unharmed it had flinched back, and Yuri took the opening to drive his sword into the softer skin of its belly.

The strike was shallow, too shallow to do more than annoy it, but the continuous attacks were beginning to stress the beast. Swiping the last ranger into the snow with a bloody paw, it turned and tried to escape, running along the open route back towards the stables. Checking the ranger was still breathing, Yuri shouted for medical support and then bolted after it, flames melting the snow beneath his feet as he ran, too high on adrenaline to even attempt to control his magic. He aimed for the left, forcing the fleeing beast onto a course towards the lip of the quarry, swinging his sword into its legs every time it tried to change direction.

Yeti were mountain creatures, and it sensed the drop approaching. Snarling, it turned to face its pursuer and roared in defiance, wide sweeps with its claws keeping Yuri at bay. Grinding his teeth, Yuri threw his sword to the side and braced himself, quelling his flames and drawing on a second element. Arching his back and holding his hands before him like a funnel, he exhaled a gust of air, using his magic to accelerate and enhance it until a small tornado whirled into life. Directing it towards the yeti, he let it pick up speed before ramming it into the beast as hard as he could.

The blow glanced off the magically impervious hide, but the yeti wobbled under the pressure from the wind and Yuri narrowed his eyes, advancing on the beast. He struck again and again, the torrent of icy air sending frostbite over his fingers and down his arms. Ignoring the pain, he forced the beast back until it was on the very edge of the quarry, the five storey drop onto jagged, half cut rocks below a guaranteed death sentence despite its toughness. There was a moment when mad, red eyes met determined turquoise, and despite his grief at the loss of his men, Yuri felt bad for the creature.

_I'm sorry..._

Tears froze on his face as he delivered the final blow, closing the distance between them to maximise the impact. As the yeti's hind legs slipped off the snowy edge it roared, flailing wildly with its claws as it tried to find purchase. Yuri watched as it dropped from sight, the sound of it falling into the quarry oddly quiet and muffled to his ears.

He tilted his head to the side, noticing that his magic had released without his conscious will, and looked down at his hands. His vision swam as he saw the scarlet pool at his feet, and it took a long moment for him to realise the blood was coming from his torso. As he dropped to his knees and fell forward into the snow, he discovered a memory of pain from the last swipe of the yeti's claws and understood that it had ripped him open as it tried to cling on to the edge of the cliff.

As his awareness faded, his last conscious thought was guilt that he wouldn't be there when Otabek opened his cage this time.


	6. Chapter 6

Otabek frowned at the young woman who opened the door to the pit at his knock.

“Where's Yuri?”

“U-upstairs... you... he... he's in the infirmary...”

Otabek's heart thudded painfully in his chest as the human explained what had happened. Cleanup of the cages could wait, the weretiger threw himself through the bath at a frantic pace then ran to the main castle, panting for breath as he slammed open the door to the infirmary. Lilia growled at him for making too much noise and he flinched under her stare, making his way to the curtained off bed as she gestured.

“Yuri...”

Turquoise eyes foggy with pain and drugs stared up at him, and the blonde smiled weakly. “Welcome back... sorry I wasn't there when you came to...”

Falling to his knees beside the bed, Otabek gripped Yuri's hand gently and shook his head. “ _I'm so sorry... this is all my fault..._ ”

“What? How... no, it's not. It was just bad luck...”

“Three rangers died! _You nearly died!_ If Lilia hadn't already been in the field with the medical team...”

“Still not seeing how this is your fault” Yuri said gently, brushing his fingers through Otabek's hair. Moving too much hurt, the potions he'd taken only managing to dull the pain. Lilia had stitched the gaping wound in his torso shut in the field before they'd risked moving him, so once she was able to properly work on him she'd had to undo all that first. Three surgeries in total, and the only reason he hadn't died of blood loss and infection was the supply of potions he'd been making for the winter. Between him and the other surviving ranger, they'd depleted almost all the backup supplies.

Otabek was weeping, pressing his face against Yuri's fingers as he shook with tears. “If I'd taken my potion... I could have fought _with_ you! _Protected you!_ I could have been patrolling... I would have spotted that stupid beast miles before it got here, and given it the hiding of it's _life_... no-one would have died...”

“ _If_ you'd taken your potion, _you_ might have died from overdose immediately, and nothing would be different. You're being irrational, Otabek... it's _not_ your fault.”

Tugging the weretiger onto the bed next to him, Yuri wrapped his arms around him and snuggled into his side, grateful for his warmth as always. Otabek grumbled low in his chest, tears drying on his cheeks as the blonde stroked his hair, soothing him.

“I'm not letting this happen again” he declared, and Yuri murmured softly. “I mean it. Before the next full moon, you're making me that potion.”

“Lilia won't let me out of bed for a while...”

“Then get someone to help you. It's even more important that I have it while your out of action. Once I'm taking it, I can change form whenever I want... I can protect this place... protect _you...”_

 _“OK...”_ Yuri sighed in defeat, brushing a kiss over Otabek's lips. “If that's what you really want... then OK. I'll do it.”

* * *

Lilia kept Yuri in the infirmary for another week, feeding him weak broth and refusing to allow him to even leave the bed. As usual, her methods were insidious and effective; within a few days, Yuri was gnashing his teeth with boredom and desperate to get moving. Once she was willing to let him leave, he ordered the weretiger out of their suite while he worked on growing the aconite for the potion. Reluctantly, Otabek set up a room for himself at the top of the east tower and settled for making sure the witch was fed and watered from a distance.

In the vast suite, Yuri had set aside a room specifically for growing his herbs. It had a large, south facing window and was always well lit, and he'd spent weeks before winter setting up an irrigation system. Otabek had helped him work on it, but now the weretiger was banned from entering the room _or_ the lab next to it. The witch refused to take any risks.

One of the few things Yuri had brought from Moscow, apart from his MP3 player and a photograph of his grandfather, was his seed collection. A slim box filled with hundreds of different seeds, all labelled and sealed in tiny bags. Most witches would happily kill for the contents of the box; over the years, Yuri's grandfather and later Yuri himself had built up a collection of the most powerful plants used in their magics. Everything from willowbark and coffee to black cohosh and white snakeroot, many of the herbs traded from other countries and a few too dangerous to even consider growing in an urban environment.

After a few hours of searching through the myriad of tiny bags, he found what he was looking for. Three seeds of Aconitum Lycoctonum, sometimes known as Wolfsbane. The plant was one of the most deadly in his collection; even brushing against the vivid purple flowers could lead to fatal poisoning. Able to leech into the bloodstream from skin contact, he'd never had cause to grow the seeds before.

Setting aside a large clay pot and building a little protective barrier around it, Yuri planted his seeds and then braced himself. Performing life magic was always wearing, and in his weakened state he knew it would take a toll, Lilia would never have let him out of her sight if she'd known what he was planning to do. Despite that, Yuri was determined; it was less than three weeks before full moon, he couldn't afford to wait for the plant to grown naturally.

Drawing a blade across his fingertip, the witch murmured a soft incantation as he let a drop of blood fall on the single seed he'd planted. The seed swelled instantly, absorbing the enchanted liquid and shivering as the magic began to work. Eyes fixed on the seed, Yuri's murmuring increased in volume as he poured power into the new life he was coaxing into existence, and tiny shoots weaved their way out of the seed, roots burrowing downwards. Panting with the effort, Yuri fed the plant another drop of blood, pushing it to grow up and out, tiny leaves reaching towards the sun. As the first bud of flower appeared and began to open, Yuri nodded in satisfaction and then collapsed onto the floor, passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

Otabek closed the cage and locked it, eyeing Yuri. “The restraints...”

“Will mess up my measurements. Lilia will hold you, don't worry. Otabek, _don't worry._ You're not going to hurt us.”

The weretiger chewed his lip, pulling his clothes off reluctantly. “Please” he spoke to Lilia and the mage narrowed her eyes. “Please don't let me do anything... don't let me hurt anyone.”

“I won't, Altin. You can be sure of that.” Her voice was cold and firm, and he sighed with relief, knowing even if Yuri couldn't bring himself to hurt him, Lilia wouldn't even hesitate. Giving Yuri a tiny smile, he closed his eyes and concentrated, letting his body shift and change.

The growl started the moment the tiger's features locked into place, a rumbling inhale that ended in a snarl and a hiss. Otabek's form was still changing, his arms thickening into paws as he dropped onto all fours, back arching and lengthening into a tail. As the growl continued and escalated,the lips peeled back, giving only a moment's warning before the tiger lunged at the bars, the snarl ripping out of him into a full roar. Yuri instinctively flinched back even as Lilia grasped the tiger with her magic.

“ _Get this done, Yurotchka..._ he's too strong...” the mage was pale with effort as she restrained the tiger, holding his limbs to his sides and preventing him from thrashing about. Yuri nodded with a gulp, dragging his eyes away from the beautiful striped pelt and the fierce brown eyes. Taking his measurements as quickly as possible, he relied on the mage for the final numbers.

“Can you get his weight, Lilia?”

“Around 400lbs, give or take. Are you done??”

“Yeah. Let me knock him out, then you can let him go.”

Using his magic, Yuri carefully drew the air out of the tigers lungs, watching him closely until his body sagged and his eyes closed. In the moments before Otabek changed back, he reached between the bars and snagged a few pinches of fur to test. Once the change was complete, he pushed air back into the weretiger's lungs and he gasped for breath, eyes fluttering open as he regained consciousness.

Coughing from the suffocation, Otabek gazed up at Yuri. “Did you get everything you needed?”

“Yes” Yuri nodded, showing him the fur in it's little bag. “You're _beautiful_ , Otabek...” Wordlessly, Lilia and Yakov left them to it as the witch opened the cage and helped his boyfriend back into his clothes, whispering praise for his tiger form as he soothed him. Once he'd dropped off his notebook and samples in his suite, Yuri made his way to the room in the top of the tower. After going through that much stress, there was no way he was letting his weretiger sleep alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuri's not dead yet! 
> 
> Smut in the next chapter? O_o


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to do soft, fluffy smut for this one, I hope you don't mind.

It took a week for the aconite to fully bloom, and the full moon crept ever closer. Otabek had dredged his memories for details about the potion, and from that information, Yuri had built a timeline. The weretiger remembered that the potion was always brewed on the day they drank it, and the family usually took their doses a few days before the full moon arrived. Yuri decided that underdosing was safer than potentially overdosing, so was using the flowers of the plant for the weakest level of toxicity. Preparing the other ingredients in advance, he set a date for the brewing and began to quiz Otabek about what they should expect once the potion was taken.

The day before he planned to make the potion, Yuri made his way to the room at the top of the tower that they shared most nights. Ever since he'd begun growing aconite in the suite he'd banned Otabek from it, and now he mostly just used it for work, sleeping in the weretiger's room instead.

Curling up together, Otabek stroked his long braid and pressed a kiss against his shoulder. “I have something to ask... I guess it's sort of a favour, in a way...”

“Anything, you know that.”

Flushing, Otabek nibbled his lower lip nervously. “I... you're making the potion tomorrow, right?”

“That's the plan... I don't have to, if you've changed your mind...”

“No! No, I still want you to... but I... I know its a risk. I know that I might... react badly to it.”

“Otabek...”

“I'm not scared! I just... I wanted to ask if you would... if _we_ could... just in case I don't make it...”

Turning to look at him, Yuri frowned. “What exactly are you asking me?”

“I... I want to be with you. I... I don't want to die without... without...”

Yuri kissed him firmly. “You're _not_ going to die.”

“Just... I just want to know you... _really_ know you...”

Sighing, Yuri wrapped his arms around the weretiger and buried his face in his hair. Longing battled with worry inside him, the reality of Otabek's stuttered request sinking in. He _could_ die... this time tomorrow, Yuri could be burying him instead of holding him in his arms... taking a deep breath, the witch tilted Otabek's chin so he was looking up at him.

“I want to know you... not because you might die... I've wanted it for a long time, Beka... I just didn't know what _you_ wanted... I guess we should have talked about it...”

“I love you, Yura. You know that, right?”

Yuri closed his eyes, smiling as Otabek kissed him. “I know... and I love you, too.”

Soft kisses turned more serious as they whispered to each other in the dark, exploring each other further than they ever had before. When the weretiger nestled between Yuri's thighs, the witch gasped and let his head fall back onto the pillow, losing himself in the sensations of Otabek's lips and tongue. When he felt slickness against his entrance he sank his fingers into Otabek's hair and moaned his desires, body shaking as the weretiger pleasured him, opening him with experienced movements.

Wrapping his legs around Otabek's neck, Yuri guided him deep and slow, rocking onto the long, thick heat inside him with cries of bliss. Knowing the weretiger could see him clearly in the low light, he gripped the bedhead and let himself go, listening to the moans and gasps of his lover as they both climbed towards orgasm. When Otabek's voice became strained and desperate, the witch took himself over the edge with quick strokes, his body clenching and arching as he released, dragging Otabek with him into orgasm.

They lay together for hours, kissing and touching in between bursts of dozing. Bringing each other pleasure again and again until they were both satiated, the weretiger's stamina keeping him going far beyond anything Yuri had experienced before. As dawn crept through the curtains, Otabek buried his face in Yuri's hair and whispered words of love and trust, and the witch reluctantly turned his mind towards the task ahead of him; brewing a potion that might kill the love of his life.

* * *

“Something's wrong” Yuri fretted, and Lilia rested her hand on his shoulder.

“He said it was painful and he usually passed out...”

Yuri eyed the weretiger's heaving chest, watching as ripples spread and moved under his skin. “He didn't say anything about changing shape, and he said the pain only lasts a few hours... something's _wrong_ , Lilia.”

Bending to check the weretiger's temperature through the bars of the cage, Lilia jerked her hand back with a hiss. “He's burning hot... I think you're right.”

Yuri fought back tears as Lilia used her magic to open the cage, and began giving medical treatment. With tinctures and cool cloths they worked to bring the weretiger's temperature down as Yuri fought back tears. The potion had been too strong... in his heart, he knew that was the truth. Somehow, despite all their precautions, he'd got it wrong... he'd poisoned Otabek.

Yakov came to the were pit in the early hours of the morning, pursing his lips as he looked at the weakly struggling weretiger. Otabek's shifts were becoming more pronounced, holding tiger features for longer as the full moon drew closer, but his strength was waning by the day.

Sitting next to Yuri beside the cage, he watched the blonde's tense expression. He'd known Yuri for ten years, and in that time he'd seen him cry only once... when the witch told him about his grandfather's death. Now, he could see tears glistening in turquoise eyes, and it wrenched his heart.

“He's dying” Yuri's voice was dull, exhaustion and guilt wearing him down. “I killed him.”

“Yuri...”

“You know it's true. You both do...”

“That potion was always a risk! He knew there was a good chance it would kill him... he _chose_ to take it. This... this isn't just on you, Yuri.”

Silent tears ran down his cheeks. “I... I only just found him” the witch murmured, sounding broken. Yakov clenched his fists, his normally harsh face crumpled with grief for the pain his ward was experiencing.

“There... there might be a way to save him” he growled, and Lilia rounded on him instantly.

“ _No..._ whatever you're thinking, _no!_ Deals and bargains with demons...”

“Not that!” Yakov shook his head, and Yuri raised an eyebrow. “There's a spell... it's complicated, almost impossible to do right... but if it works, it will heal him. Well... technically it'll leech the poison out of him...”

“Into someone else” Yuri guessed, and Yakov nodded, raising his chin.

“Into me” the warlock rumbled, and Lilia ground her teeth. “I can deal with the poison once its in my system...”

“Absolutely not...”

“Your heart...”

Speaking at the same time, Yuri and Lilia exchanged glances. “She's right” Yuri said, “your heart won't take it... but there _may_ be another way...”

“Don't even think it!”

“Not _me!_ I'm thinking of a different type of magic... it's like witchcraft, but much more earthy... and a lot more brutal... I think it might work though.” Straightening, Yuri looked sadly at the weretiger's shivering form, more tiger now than man. “Lilia, look after him. If he dies while we're preparing...”

“I'll keep him going for as long as I can. But” Lilia pointed a trembling finger at them, “if I find out that either of you have risked your lives for this, I'll make you wish you _had_ died.”

* * *

“How does this work exactly?”

Yuri put down his needle and took off the glasses he needed for the delicate work. “It's called a poppet... witches use them to represent the target of healing, or curses. This one is copied from a new world craft called Hoodoo... it's made with the blood and hair of the target.”

“Why Hoodoo?” Yakov looked up from the runic circle he was chalking on the floor, huffing at the effort of moving around on his knees. “I'm getting too old for this” he added, glaring at the witch.

“I'm doing it without Otabek's permission” Yuri bit his lip, returning to carefully sewing the tiger fur into the doll. “If I used my normal witchcraft, the spell would probably fail, and there might even be rebound... purely because of my own mindset about it, mind you. By using a Hoodoo practice, I can think in those terms and negate that.”

“Sophism” Yakov said with distaste. “This is why I never got on with witchcraft. Too worried about how you think and your _feelings_... it's a wonder _you_ can do it at all, given how repressed you are.”

“Harsh” Yuri curled his lip, sewing calmly. “I'm not _repressed_... I channel my emotions, which is the heart of witchcraft. Channel your feelings to where you want them to go.”

“Is that why fire was your first element?”

“Fuck you” Yuri said, comfortably. “Probably” he added, after a moment's thought. “Anger was always more accessible to me.”

“Warlock magic is more like baking” Yakov pushed himself to his feet, surveying his circle. “Get the right ingredients, and set the right environment, and you should end up with a cake every time.”

“ _Should?_ ”

“Well... it's all about concentration. If you slip up on your measuring, or forget to check the oven... you end up with burned cake, or raw dough. Neither is good.” Brushing the chalk from his hands, he nodded with satisfaction. “Don't worry... nothing bad ever came of combining powerful and untested magics in a high pressure environment.”

“That's very reassuring.”

“Do you have everything you need?”

“Not quite... but I need to do the last bit in private.”

“Why?”

Yuri sighed. “Because I need to power up the poppet using Otabek's blood and a representation of my desire. Unless you want to watch me jerk off over a doll?”

Yakov pulled a face and backed out of the room. “Witchcraft is disgusting” he commented, and Yuri kicked the door shut behind him.

* * *

Lilia brought Otabek to the ritual space in Yuri's suite, using her magic to transport him wrapped in a blanket. The weretiger was almost entirely transformed now, fur covering his body and only his bipedal posture still making him look humanoid. His arms and legs ended in paws, and his tail was wrapped around Lilia's wrist as she moved him as if seeking comfort. Lowering him inside the first of Yakov's circles, she stroked his catlike ears gently before stepping away.

“He doesn't have much time left.”

Yuri nodded and placed the handmade poppet in the other circle, then knelt in front of Yakov as the warlock took up his position on the line of runes between the two. Bowing his head, he closed his eyes and focused on images of Otabek healthy and happy, laughing and enjoying his life. Yakov's chanting was soft at first, rising in volume and pace as the magics began to flow around them, weaving between the dying weretiger and the poppet that would become the vessel for the poison within him.

Strength began to seep out of the witch, Yakov's spell using the blonde's power as fuel alongside the otherworldly energies he was working. As Yuri sagged and collapsed onto the floor, he heard the warlock's voice raise into a shout, the spell reaching its zenith. A huge wind sprang up, howling around them and darkening the room, unseen creatures doing Yakov's bidding in the magical torrent. With a last cry, Yakov smashed his hands together above Yuri's prone body and the wind vanished with one resounding echo of thunder.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to open up a Discord channel for this fic, in which I'll be available to chat all things YOI and general fic froth. I'm on UK time (GMT) so it might take a while to reply if I'm sleeping :P Visit [Legacy Discord](https://discord.gg/Nc6PKeP)  
> 

“Yuri... wake up...”

Opening his eyes blearily, Yuri gazed up into Otabek's worried face and a sob broke from his throat. Flinging his arms around the weretiger's neck, he pressed his face against his shoulder and wept with relief. “You're alive... you're OK... _Otabek..._ ”

“Yuri... Yuri, what did you _do_?” Otabek's voice was subdued as he held him, horror edging the words. Confused, Yuri followed his line of sight, ice clutching at his heart as he saw what was in the second circle.

Where the poppet had been lay a tall humanoid, coughing weakly and gazing around the room with pale, terrified eyes. White fur with black stripes covered its body, and its feet were paws. Hands and fingers covered in black striped patterns on alabaster skin ended in sharp black claws, and a thick, fluffy tiger tail curled from the base of its spine. A black mane of hair covered its head, and a catlike nose sat beneath alarmingly human eyes. When it moved, Yuri could see it was genderless, and as it coughed it exposed sharp, yellow fangs.

“What the _fuck_ ” Yuri breathed, letting Otabek help him to his feet. As he spoke, the creature's head whipped round and it stared at him.

“ _What the fuck”_ it repeated, its voice was soft, but beneath the human tones was the faint rumble of a tiger's snarl. “What the fuck” it repeated, modulating its voice to sound more human, more like Yuri's.

Lilia approached the circle, stopping outside the chalk and crouching down. “Can you understand me?”

“Can you understand me?” it repeated, then pushed itself to its feet, staggering and fetching up against a barrier around the circle. Yuri realised Yakov had thrown up a temporary magical wall to keep the creature contained, probably out of long instinct from working with summoned demons. The creature scratched at the invisible barrier with its claws, and Yakov narrowed his eyes.

“It's definitely a magical creature, those claws are having an effect” he grunted, “that barrier won't hold it for long.”

“Stop that” Lilia told it, her voice a hard snap, and the creature did as it was told instantly, tilting its head as if trying to understand why it had obeyed. Yuri sympathised with it for a brief moment; Lilia was formidable enough to order the mountains to move.

“Stop... understand.”

“What?” Yuri stepped forward, eyes widening. “Did it just...”

Pale eyes flicked to his face. “Stop... understand.” Looking down at itself, the creature scratched lightly at its own skin, a few drops of blueish blood pearling on the cut. “Understand?”

“Are you... are you asking what you _are_?” Yuri breathed, and Yakov glared at him.

“Don't be stupid... there's no way this thing is _sentient_...”

“Are... what are” the creature shivered as it tasted the drop of blood, tail weaving as it paused, clearly thinking its way through something. “Are... No... no understand.”

“Yuri...” Otabek wrapped trembling arms around the blonde, and the creature narrowed its eyes as it watched them. “What _is_ this thing?”

“I have no idea” Yuri replied, lacing his fingers through Otabek's. As they linked hands, the creature began to growl, a rumbling sound that warned of potential violence. Curious, the witch turned his head and rested his nose against Otabek's hair, and the growl intensified into a snarl, the creature's expression turning savage, claws sinking into the barrier and tail lashing furiously. Carefully, Yuri disengaged from the weretiger, and the creature became calm again, only its tail weaving as a sign of its fluctuating emotions.

“it's _jealous_ ” the witch murmured, and Lilia stood up decisively.

“This creature is at least as sentient as an animal, perhaps even as much as a human. It needs to be cared for, basic needs until we understand more about it; fed, watered, somewhere to sleep. Yakov, this room is suitable for it and moving it in the castle is probably a bad idea. I want strong anti magic barriers on every wall, window and door. Yuri, Otabek, go and get a bed and blankets from the tower. _Now_.”

Spurred into action by the icy tone, the three headed to fetch supplies and equipment. As Yuri and Otabek left, the creature watched them go with a sad noise, sitting on the floor and folding its ears back unhappily.

* * *

_The creature's nature is a mystery, but its creation is in no doubt... from the warping of warlock magic and witchcraft, combined with the residual life magic from the growing of the aconite in OA's potion, existence was breathed into form..._

Yuri's temper flared and he tossed the entire notebook into the fire, growling with anger. Yakov's suggestion to make notes on the unexpected side effect of the ritual made sense, but seeing the words written down made him feel sick and furious with himself. His power was meant to heal and protect, not _create_... encouraging seeds to grow was already pushing the limits of what you could get away with, let alone this... he'd created _life_ , something absolutely anathema to almost every school of magic.

 _They._ Yakov had reiterated it again and again... _they_ had done this, not just Yuri. It was both of their mistakes... yet Yuri knew in his heart that the old man was wrong. The life magic he'd used to grow the aconite was the cause of this, Yuri was sure... and that decision had been his, and his alone.

It was _also_ the reason behind Otabek's overdose, he'd worked out with renewed guilt. The magic had enhanced the power of the plant, boosting it far beyond the needs of the potion and his careful measurements. Yuri's gut response – to burn the plant entirely and start again from scratch – had been met with Lilia's cold logic. She reasoned that all he had to do was reduce the ingredient to almost nothing and build it up slowly until the potion worked; in hindsight, this was something he would have tried in the first place if not for Otabek's desperation and his co-dependant desire to keep the weretiger happy. Thankfully, Otabek agreed to do it the slow way this time, resigning himself to a few more months in the cage until they got it right.

There was never a question of _not_ trying again... Otabek's desire for freedom only intensified once he got a taste for it. Enough of the potion had been absorbed into his system to effect him, and he'd confirmed that he could control himself in animal form before the full moon arrived. The weretiger bounded around in the snow, roaring in delight as he bolted round and round the building, rolling around on the floor of his room afterwards like a dog wet from a bath; it was delightful to watch, especially after his misery in the months of confinement. Having the potion so close to completion made not reaching for it impossible.

Pausing outside the door of what had once been his private lounge, Yuri took a deep breath and prepared himself to face the nightmare creature he'd made. He could hear Lilia's voice muffled behind the magical barriers, and knew she was talking to the _thing._ She'd spent most of the last week with it, almost as obsessed with it as Yakov, who had collected hair and blood samples daily to test and experiment with. He'd never access to a magical creature this easily before.

“He needs a name” Lilia commented as Yuri entered the room, the brand on his arm glowing softly as it allowed him to pass through Yakov's barrier. All three of them had it, a long established key to the warlock's magic they'd worn for years. He barely even registered the sting as he looked at the creature sitting on the floor.

“He?”

“He doesn't look female” Lilia shrugged, “and his voice sounds like yours.”

“It's got no... you know...”

“Doesn't matter. He responds to the pronoun.”

“Fine” Yuri sat beside her on the couch, watching the creature. “You gave him toys?”

“Learning tools” she corrected, her lips pursed. “He can speak Russian, for some reason, so I had Yakov make him alphabet blocks. He's a fast learner.”

“It's probably residual memory” Yuri stated, and flinched under her enquiring gaze. “I mean... I think... I think the materials he came from, he ended up with memory from me... and from Otabek.”

“Your evidence?”

Sighing, Yuri turned to the creature. In faltering Kazakh, he asked “how are you feeling today?” The white furred humanoid looked up at him, his head tilting before he replied in the same language.

“All big... too much...” he poked at the blocks with a claw, then turned one over to look at it curiously. “Miss you” he added, tail twitching sadly.

Yuri exhaled a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. “He knows both our languages” he explained, switching back to Russian. “I don't speak much of it... it's called Kazakh.”

The creature raised his head. “Kazakh... Otabek?”

“You know his name??”

“Yuri... Otabek”

“That might do for a name” Lilia mused. “Since it seems to be a fusion of both of you... how about Yurabek?”

“Ridiculous” Yuri snorted, but the creature tilted his head.

“Yurabek? Me?”

“Do you like it?” the mage asked, and the creature rolled it round on his tongue a few times.

“Yurabek... yes. Name. Me.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow. “Great. You've named him, given him a box to sleep in and a litter tray... have you bought a collar yet?”

“ _You did this_ ” Lilia pointed out, her eyes flashing. “Take some responsibility for him.” She rose and strode to the door. “Spend some time with him while I go check something out.”

“Wait... no...”

“He's your child” she grimaced, and Yuri shot to his feet.

“That's not...!”

“No!” The creature rose and growled the word at Lilia, pointing at Yuri. “Not child! Mine!” he said, his tail lashing.

“What do you mean?” Lilia asked, resting her hands on the back of the couch. “You don't think of him as a father?”

“Mine!” the creature insisted again, and then to Yuri's horror he reached out for the blonde, trying to put his arms around the witch, his behaviour unmistakably intimate. Yuri wrenched himself out of his grasp and darted to the other side of the room, expression twisting in disgust at the prospect. Remembering the creature's jealousy when Yurabek had seen him and Otabek together, bile rose in his throat.

“Not yours” he hissed, and the creature's eyes widened, lips curling from his long, sharp fangs in a growl as he was denied.

“Mine...” he said, his tone wheedling, begging. Yuri shook his head violently, moving further away as his skin crawled in horror.

“ _No! Not yours!!_ ”

The creature threw his head back and roared, magical fire crackling around his body as rage overcame him, picking up the couch as if it weighed nothing. Lilia and Yuri bolted from the room, slamming the door shut as the heavy furniture struck the wall.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who was freaked out by the last chapter - you're welcome, and please enjoy some more!

_Sound happens around him and he floats in it, the familiar voices comforting and reassuring him in his distress. Briefly, he feels pain and knows that his body is struggling, fighting its way through the memories. His arms and legs are restrained, his throat is dry and aching and his head hurts, although he isn't thirsty. They're doing their best to look after him._

_Memories surge up again and he whimpers, trying to fight the pull, sensing that horror and remembered agony is waiting for him. Despite himself, he's dragged under, his body reacting to the battle by launching into another fit. The voices around him change, controlled panic as they manage his physical state. He knows they cannot help his mind, and with a last, unsuccessful scrabble, Yuri falls back into his past._

* * *

“We need to put it down.”

“ _Him_ ” Lilia growled, and Yuri curled a lip at her. “He's a living, sentient creature, you can't just...”

“I've killed living creatures before. Hell, I've killed _humans_ before. IT's dangerous, a dangerous magical monster, and it needs to die.”

Stirring uncomfortably, Otabek cleared his throat. “He has some of our memories... he can speak, and learn... this might just be an a-accident... if he can learn to behave, shouldn't we give him that chance?”

In answer, Yuri pointed at the bandages covering Otabek's chest and arm. “ _It tried to gut you”_ he snarled, “how can you defend it?!”

“He doesn't understand that what he did was wrong” the weretiger shook his head, “he's like a child...”

“A child who can wound werebeasts as if its claws were silver, and thinks _I'm_ its personal property, no matter how many times its told otherwise...”

“That's what this is really about, isn't it” Yakov speculated, and Yuri rounded on him.

“On no, no, you don't get an opinion... you just want to carry on your _tests_... trying to figure out what its made from, how it works... if I killed it, you'd just pickle the bits and carry on studying...”

“ _Enough”_ Lilia's voice was like a thundercrack, and Yuri flinched despite himself. “No-one is killing him. Yurabek is _my_ responsibility, since you two decided you wanted no part of looking after him.”

“Lilia...”

“ _No._ No more of this.” The mage rose, smoothing her clothes out as a show of finality. “If you don't like it, stay away from him.”

“It's in _my suite..._ ”

“Then I suggest you move into Otabek's rooms in the tower until I've trained _him_ enough to safely relocate him.”

* * *

Otabek winced as Yuri cleaned his wounds, the warm, salty water stinging the barely healed slashes. His arm had taken the brunt of the attack, the creature's magically enhanced claws sinking deep into the muscle. The damage had taken all Yuri's skill to stitch, and he was worried about infection.

“Lilia's crazy” the witch muttered, and Otabek shook his head.

“She's always seen the best in people... she saw the best in me, remember?”

“ _That thing isn't 'people'”_ Yuri hissed, “and besides, there's nothing _bad_ in you to begin with!”

Ignoring the last comment, Otabek tugged Yuri into his lap and held him close as he finished applying fresh bandages. “You know this was my fault, right? The injuries?”

“Bullshit...”

“It _was._ We've all seen the way Yurabek reacts to you... I pushed him too far by touching you in front of him...”

“Don't use that name! It's insane... this whole thing is _insane_ ” Yuri whined, throwing himself onto the bed and burying his face in his arms. “ _Why_ _is it so obsessed with me...”_

“Because it's made of me” Otabek shrugged as if it were obvious, and Yuri stared up at him. “I mean... the poppet was originally made out of my blood and hair, right? And your... your _desire_ ” Otabek flushed, “Yurabek probably came into being knowing only one thing; that you _wanted him_ , that he loved you, and that _he_ belonged to _you_. Having you reject him immediately... and then prefer me, even though I'm the same as him...”

“ _You're nothing like it!”_

“ _He_ doesn't know that... that's what Lilia's saying. Given time and education... with her helping him understand the world... he might accept it...”

“So what if _it_ does? You want to put a collar and a bell on it too??”

Tutting, Otabek withdrew his comforting hand from Yuri's shoulder and gave him a hard look. “Do you think calling him 'it' constantly will make him disappear? _We created him,_ Yuri... and he's not going anywhere. You need to accept that.”

Frowning, Yuri rose and padded to the door. “Maybe” he shrugged, then pointed to the bed. “You need rest if you want to heal quicker. Sleep. I'll be back in a bit.”

* * *

Yuri's brand burned in the darkness of the room as he pushed the door open, passing through the magical barriers without a sound. Sensing him immediately, the creature sat up on its bed and stared at him, pale eyes gleaming in the tiny light from the window, head tilted curiously to one side. Grunting, the witch closed the door and leaned on it.

“Should have know you could see in the dark as well as he can.”

“ _Yuuuuri_...” the creature's voice was that same soft growl, but the words and meanings were coming easier to it now under Lilia's teaching. “You came to see me...”

Pushing himself away from the door, Yuri approached the bed cautiously. “Are you going to attack me?”

“Of course not... I _love_ you, Yuri.”

“Tch” Yuri sat beside the white furred humanoid, curling his lip. “Like you even know what you're saying... you're a _monster,_ a _creation_. Nothing more. You can't _love_.”

“Mother says I'm a person.”

_Mother..._ Yuri snarled, hackles rising. In all the years since he'd found a home with Lilia and Yakov, he'd never once even considered calling her _mother._ “Lilia's delusional. You're a _thing._ ”

“ _He_ says I'm a person too.”

' _He'_ could only mean Otabek... the creature refused to say his name or even address him directly, as though even the most distant contact with the weretiger was painful for it. Yuri narrowed his eyes and raised a hand slowly, bringing his fingers close to the creature's face. “He's wrong... they all are.”

“Then why are you here?” Despite knowing Yuri's reluctance to touch it, the creature couldn't help but lean forward until his fingers brushed the thick, black mane of hair around its ears. The fur was coarser than he expected, and he moved his hand to scratch gently at the base of the creature's skull. It closed its eyes and made a sound that was unmistakably a purr. Clenching his teeth, Yuri took a breath and then struck with the knife hidden in his sleeve.

The silver blade slipped between the creature's ribs like it was diving into butter, and huge pale eyes slammed open in shock. It _howled_ , the pain of the blow coupled with the burn of the silver as Yuri leaped away and out of range of those deadly claws. Grabbing at the knife, the creature howled again as the silver handle scorched its hands and it collapsed, dragging itself towards the door in an attempt to flee.

“Mother... _help me...”_

With a sound that was nearly a sob of rage, Yuri dragged the second blade from his belt and moved to stand over the creature, yanking its head back as he prepared to cut its throat. With a cry it flailed at him, dragging its claws through his flesh and drawing blood as it scratched his arms. Ignoring the pain, Yuri prepared to strike the mortal blow.

“Yuri, no!”

Yuri's back struck the wall as Lilia flung him away from the creature with her magic, her frantic dash through the door arrested as she saw the injuries to the thing. Hoisting it into the air, she smashed Yakov's barrier with his cancellation spell and carried it away from its attacker, towards the infirmary and her medical equipment. Stunned by the impact with the wall, Yuri hung like a puppet until she was out of range and her magic failed, dropping him like a rock onto the floor. He was still there when Yakov and Otabek found him a few minutes later, drawn to him by the shouting and crashing, and in the weretiger's case, the scent of blood.


	10. Chapter 10

The scream echoed through the house. It launched Otabek out of bed, the weretiger changing form as he yanked the door open. movements jarring Yuri awake. Dragging on his clothes as he ran after the huge tiger, they raced downstairs towards the commotion, fire wreathing the witch's fingers.

Lilia was crumpled in the doorway of the infirmary, bleeding from a slash to her side, Yakov knelt beside her as he tended her wound. A trail of blueish blood led from the room towards the main entrance, and Yuri snarled as he followed it. He found Otabek sniffing at the remains of the doors, a low growl in the weretiger's throat. Aghast, Yuri surveyed the damage as he quieted and comforted the people who had been terrified, gathering the story from them in bits and pieces.

The creature had torn its way through the door, claws shredding off the locks in one massive blow and ripping the hinges entirely. The blood trail disappeared out into the daylight, heading towards the distant treeline. Pressing his hand into Otabek's fur, Yuri narrowed his eyes.

“Can you track him?”

The tiger growled in agreement, and Yuri nodded. “Lay out his trail to the end of Yakov's wards. I'll check on Lilia and get ready, and catch up with you.”

Nuzzling Yuri's fingers, the weretiger sprinted away into the valley, leaving a clear trail in the deep snow. The witch watched him for a moment before turning and making his way back to the infirmary, directing a few people to start mending the doors. Lilia was sat on one of the beds, batting Yakov's hands away from her injuries as she cleaned her wound. Noting Yuri's expression, she immediately began to protest.

“It's only a light wound... he was scared, he wasn't trying to hurt me...”

“Otabek's tracking it. I'm gearing up to go after it... I won't be bringing it back.”

“Yuri...” Lilia's eyes shined with tears and she pressed her lips together, refusing to show emotion. Yuri's heart ached for her.

“Why do you care so much about it!?” he demanded, and the mage closed her eyes.

“He was so afraid at first... you didn't see, you _ran away..._ he was terrified of everything... and he clung to _me_... he...” her voice faded to a whisper, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. “He called me _mother_.”

Gritting his teeth, Yuri stepped away from the bed and headed towards the door. “I'm sorry Lilia. For everything... but it doesn't change what I have to do.”

“I know” she murmured, turning her face into Yakov's shoulder. “Just... do it quickly. Cleanly.”

“I promise.”

* * *

The snow trail led to the treeline, and after that Yuri followed scratches made on the trees left as directions. Otabek was waiting for him at the other end of the valley, curled up beside one of the boulders that marked the safe passage through the forest. He growled softly as he sniffed Yuri, and the witch apologised.

“Sorry... silver's the only thing I'm sure will work on it... I'll be careful with the weapons around you, don't worry.”

Stretching, the weretiger cast his eyes over the hills below them, and Yuri nodded. “We have to find the creature... we need to put it down. It headed south?” Otabek chuffed agreement, and Yuri tutted. “Can you track it in human form?” A nod, and Yuri rummaged through his rucksack for a set of clothes and boots for the weretiger. “OK. South means villages... you're better off looking like a human until you need to fight.”

Changing back, Otabek dressed quickly, shivering in the chill. “How's Lilia?”

“The wound wasn't too bad. I think it just wanted her out of the way so it could run.”

“Its injured, but healing. There's much less blood now... I'm mostly following it on scent.”

“You took a few days to heal from its claws... it probably has a similar healing factor. By tomorrow it will be back to full strength.”

“It can move outside even in the cold” Otabek said, “and even injured it can cover a lot of ground... unless it stops for some reason, we're going to struggle to catch up.”

“One advantage we have is that I know the terrain. It's never seen a village or a town before... it's going to hesitate, make mistakes...”

“If it's panicked, people could die” Otabek's voice was low, and Yuri clenched his jaw.

“Even more reason to find it quickly.”

They headed south for most of the night, passing through long abandoned villages as they went. Yuri's expression tightened with each burnt out house, and Otabek gazed around them. “How long has it been since you came here?”

“We passed through this area on our way into the mountains two, maybe three years ago. There wasn't much left then, but there were still a few families hanging on in the larger villages.”

“They're gone now.”

“Moved to the city, probably... or...” Yuri didn't finish the sentence, knowing how Otabek had lost his home. The weretiger's face scrunched unhappily, and he nodded understanding.

“The trail is still heading south.”

Yuri grunted and dug out the old map of the area he'd grabbed from Yakov's study before he left. “South is bad” he said, pointing. “The way the route is going, he'll hit Lienz... when I came through, there was still a population of a few thousand there.”

“We should pick up the pace” Otabek said, “can you move faster through this terrain?”

“Cheeky fucker. I'm not weretiger fast, but I can keep up” Yuri chided, and Otabek muffled a laugh as they broke into a jog.

The mountains they moved through had once been snow-capped year round, supporting a tourist economy of skiers and climbers. Yuri remembered seeing the final days of Alpine holidays on the international news, as the industry declined. They passed through a resort that had been picked clean by looters, pausing in the relatively sound main building for a few hours sleep. While Yuri rested, Otabek explored the abandoned structure, fascinated by the remains of a lifestyle he'd never even heard of.

“They called it Skiing” Yuri said, finding him sniffing curiously at broken pieces of painted boards. “Humans would strap these to their feet and use them to move over the snow. It was a popular sport, as well as a hobby.”

“Why did they stop?”

“The icy peaks became too unstable due to the rising summer temperatures. My grandfather went once, when he was young... he said not long after that there were a series of really bad accidents and the resorts began to close. Parties of holiday makers being buried alive under avalanches on the slopes, whole resorts being swept away... when the glaciers began to melt in summer, it wasn't safe for people any more so they were abandoned. Whole companies went bankrupt, thousands of people lost their jobs and their homes. It was right at the start of the Crash, when things were starting to get bad. The mountains and the coastal towns took the environmental hits first, and the population began to move towards the safer areas inland.”

Otabek ran his fingers along a cracked snowboard, looking at the images in the paint. “It's like you're from a different world” he murmured, and Yuri shrugged.

“You didn't have much contact with humans growing up, I guess?”

“Almost none outside of the village. The electricity grid went down a few years after I was born, and the village council couldn't afford to get it fixed, so we just made do without it. There was a manual satellite phone, but it was for emergencies only.”

Yuri leaned against a broken window, looking out over the snow. This low in the mountains, early March brought the first thaws, and he could see tiny slivers of jagged rock peeking through the white. In a few weeks, the whole area would be meltwater and granite... there would be no time for regrowth, the punishing summer sun would burn away any vegetation that tried to cling to the slopes. By midsummer, the mountains would be a rocky desert, devoid of all but the most hardy of life.

Once again, he was reminded how much of a paradise Illforte valley really was. Yakov had picked the name from an English novel he'd read, saying that it meant practicality, dependability and logical thinking, something all three of them had been craving. Yuri found that he missed the beautiful house he'd helped build, and the people that made it a home.

“I remember when electric first got rationed” he said, finding Otabek twining their fingers together. “There was a huge announcement online, then each area of the city got allocated a slot, a four hour period when they would have the power switched off. After a few years, it had changed to a four hour slot when the power was _on..._ and by the time we left Moscow, each area was down to an hour a day. It was chaos... people were rigging illegal generators and stealing fuel, and of course they were really badly made, so they'd blow up and set whole blocks on fire...” He subsided as Otabek buried his face in his neck, realising his distress was altering his scent and alarming the weretiger. “All in the past” he sighed, folding himself into Otabek's arms. They stood together for a while, watching the sun rise and taking silent comfort in each other.

A few days later they reached the outskirts of Lienz, the first signs of current habitation they'd seen since leaving the valley. Otabek's steps began to drag, and Yuri noted the nervous twitches of the weretiger's features at the sight of chimney smoke and the smell of people. Pausing, he stripped out of his backpack and handed it to his lover.

“Take the camping gear and circle the town, check to see if the creature has moved on. I'll go in, restock the supplies if I can and pick up any intel I can find. There's no need for you to enter a town” he added, and Otabek squeezed his fingers gratefully.

“I'll meet you back here in 12 hours” he agreed, and they parted ways with a quick kiss, Yuri pulling the hood of his jacket up over his hair and checking his weapons as he made his way towards the main road. It had been a long time since he'd been around mundane humans, but his distrust of them had not faded at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for the sharp eyed, you'll now know the exact placement of the valley <3 I've always known it in the Austrian Alps; it seemed the perfect setting for it. It wasn't until I started mapping the geography to work out which city would be closest that I fully appreciated the scale of the range! Beautiful!! 
> 
> There'll be more info on the state of the world in the coming chapters <3


	11. Chapter 11

The witch cut a lonely figure as he entered the city. He kept his hood up and his hands tucked into his pockets, making himself as small a target as possible. He hoped the lack of bag or other belongings would make him less tempting as well, but the sword on his hip and the knives tucked in his belt and boots were valuable for raiders, as was his thick leather jacket and heavy boots. Prepared to defend himself, he wandered through the streets, looking for signs of human habitation.

Lienz once boasted a population of around eleven thousand people; a busy, thriving alpine town with beautiful architecture and historic locations. Yakov had dragged them around when they'd passed through, pointing out the various buildings and enthusing on the past. His love of history was not infectious; Yuri barely remembered any of his excited lectures. _He_ had taken note of the lack of electric and running water, the hollow eyes of the few people that remained and the sunken cheeks of their children, and urged their little group onwards away from the possibility of attack.

Now, Lienz was like a ghost town. Everywhere he saw neglect, the dilapidation that comes of abandonment to the elements. Buildings stood empty, glass cracked and missing from the windows, roof tiles caving in. Everywhere, nature tried to reclaim the remains of humanity, hampered by the punishing weather so that only the hardiest, most drought resistant plants could survive. Husks of cars still stood, rusted and buried in snow, devoid of fuel decades ago and never moved off the street. Petrol cars had been rare when Yuri was born, he'd grown up walking past the corpses of Lada, Moskvich, Ford and Volkswagon.

The climate in the mountains rendered anything exposed to bare bones, be it cars, buildings or people. The streets were lined with rubble, silent testament to the struggles of the population before they had finally given up on the town. Yuri remembered the water riots in Moscow and shuddered, fighting back images of the looting and burning when the government were finally forced to ration access to running water due to the collapse of the power grid.

Yuri walked for nearly an hour before he saw anything to indicate humans were still living in the place; a flicker of movement that he identified as a scout, keeping watch for enemies. Raising his hands above his head, he called out his peaceful intentions in Russian, then again in German, finally ending in English.

A few moments of silence, then a reply in Austrian. Yuri sighed, grateful for the lessons from their friends back in the valley as he formulated a response.

“I'm looking for trade and information” he called back, patting his pockets to indicate he had goods. The movement also 'accidentally' exposed his sword to their view, letting them know he wasn't a pushover. He saw the gun before he registered the woman holding it, and raised an amused eyebrow. “You expect me to be afraid of an unloaded weapon?”

“Who says it's unloaded?”

“No-one's had bullets for decades” he replied, opening his palms in a gesture of truce. “Nice try though.”

The tip of a sword touched the back of his neck and he smiled, nodding. “Are you done? All I want is to ask about a traveller who might have come through here, and pick up some tack if you have any to trade. Otherwise, I'll go.”

“You're wearing some nice kit” the man holding the sword pointed out, “why would we let you go?”

 _Raiders. Figures. Only those capable of living off other's misery would last long out here._ Yuri rolled his eyes and then moved, deftly taking the sword away from the man with a flick of his wrist and a punch, then resting it against its previous owner's throat. “Shall we try that again?” he asked, turning the blade and offering the hilt back to the man with a cold smile. Swallowing nervously, the man took the weapon and sheathed it.

“What do you want to know?”

“I'm looking for someone, might have passed through. It... he'd be taking care to cover himself, probably got violent if approached... white eyes...” Yuri was guessing, but the look on the pair's faces told him everything he needed to know. “You've seen him?”

“He's a monster” the woman declared, shaking her head. "His hands were claws... his _face_...”

“Where did he go? I'm going to put him down, once and for all” Yuri assured them, and they exchanged glances.

“South... he wanted to know ' _where all the people were'..._ said he remembered there were people here... we told him to go south, towards the border.”

Yuri's breath caught. “You didn't tell him about Rome, did you?”

Nervous looks. “He... he _killed Marta..._ said he'd kill us too... he had some sort of... of flamethrower or something, he b-burned her...”

Sagging, Yuri stepped away from them. “Shit... shit... _shit..._ OK. OK. How long ago did he pass through?”

“Three days ago.”

“What??” The witch stared at them, processing distance and time. The creature could move _fast_ , it'd covered the terrain at a speed only Otabek might be able to match in tiger form. “How was it travelling? Was it running?”

“On all fours like a beast... we thought it was a weird dog or something at first, but then it stood up and started speaking...” the man shuddered.

Tugging a pouch out of his jacket, Yuri tossed it to the man. “Tobacco... for the information, and any tack you can trade.” Shrugging when the pair shook their heads about the food, he turned back the way he'd come.

“If you're going after it, dig two graves. It's strong...” the woman called after him.

“So am I” Yuri replied, pulling his hood back up as he left.

* * *

The weretiger tracked him to the temporary camp he'd made on the outskirts of the city, arriving just after dark. Sitting beside the fire, he chewed on the offered hard tack and watched the flames dance.

“I found his scent south of the city just like you thought. There's an old migration trail there, heading directly to the base of the mountains. He seems to be following it.”

“He killed someone for information” Yuri's voice was hollow, and Otabek gasped in horror. “They told him about the exodus to Rome.”

“The what?”

Hunching closer to the fire, Yuri remembered once again how isolated from humanity Otabek had always been. “All the governments of Europe were advising isolated, rural towns to move towards the nearest capital cities; although they were overcrowded nightmares, it was better than watching entire towns die. The United Nations issued a blanket request to all governments to accept refugees from their neighbours, and most countries opened their borders.”

Poking the fire, Yuri closed his eyes as the memories of his grandfather's voice washed over him, telling him the story of the Crash of 2053. “Just before we came through here, the town council took a vote to relocate to the nearest stable hub. The town was starving; no power, no running water or sewage, no resupplies for the shops, and no humanitarian aid. They had held out for two decades, but their time was up. Rome was the nearest big city, and the Italian border was open... so they left. By the time we arrived there were only a few hundred people here, those that were too ill to travel had been left behind, and some had refused to give up their homes.”

Otabek listened in fascination. Most of the people at Illforte were loathe to talk about their lives before the valley, preferring to concentrate on the future. The Crash was something he'd heard about in rumours and snippets; the convulsions of a society on its knees, drifting inexorably towards death. He'd always felt apart from it, isolated as they were in his village. Hearing Yuri speak, he could see the pain of the memories on his lover's face. It was _real_ for the witch, a lived horror that Otabek couldn't quite comprehend.

“Do you think Yurabek would really head to a place with a large population?”

“He's learning about his own power” Yuri said, dully. “He killed a woman in Lienz with fire... _my_ fire. The others were terrified, and did what he wanted. What _it_ wanted” he snarled, shaking his head. He refused to acknowledge it as anything approaching human.

“So we go on to Rome then...”

“No” Yuri stood up, brushing snow from his thighs. Otabek looked up in confusion. “It's moving fast, probably at your tiger pace. We won't catch it... and there's only a few weeks before full moon. We need to get back so I can brew your potion...”

“ _That's what you're worried about?_ ”

“Without it, you'll turn into a mindless animal and try to eat me” Yuri said, shrugging. “I'd prefer it if that didn't happen.”

“I...” frustration etched itself on Otabek's face. “So what, we go back, stock up on potion and then follow him?”

Yuri sighed. “No, Beka. We give up and go home. I can't make a stock of potion for you, it has to be made fresh or it won't work right. By the time we get back to Illforte and I've made it, Yurabek will have reached populated areas. It'll be recognised as a threat and dealt with by the humans, I'm sure of it.”

“So we've failed... and people will die trying to clean up our mess.”

Nodding, Yuri shouldered the rucksack and stomped out the fire. “That's something we'll have to learn to live with” he said, running his fingers through Otabek's hair sadly.


	12. Chapter 12

_The pain is less now, the pull towards the past weaker. Yuri senses this journey is nearly over... he is approaching the end of the story, nearing the memories of his first death. He plunges towards it, desperate for answers, even more desperate to return to the present... and the choice he must make, has made before, and will probably make again._

* * *

Normally, Yuri avoided children like the plague. His appearance and reputation granted him safety from their clinging and questions; blonde hair fading to steel grey, age lines that were less from laughter than he'd like. His eyes were the same piercing turquoise, undimmed by the years, and he used them on the children of Illforte to command instant obedience and respect, if not outright fear. He was Yuri Altin-Plisetsky, Head Ranger and Protector of the Valley; he had no time for children's games. He left that to his husband.

Watching the weretiger cavorting around the yard with three squealing kids on his back, clutching handfuls of fur as he pranced and pretended to roar ferociously, Yuri bit back a smile. At fifty four years old, Otabek was showing no signs of the early aging they'd feared would be a side effect of the potion; Yuri had worked hard over the last few decades to refine it and make it safe, ensuring there was a copy of the formula and seeds for the ingredients in Yakov's library. The other weres had eventually adopted it, once he was sure it was safe, and now the wolves and tiger patrolled the borders every night, working out a rota with the rangers to ensure Illforte was always protected.

That protection had proved necessary only a few times; Yakov's magic was ingrained in the soil and the plants by now, weaving a hazy of subtlety across the woods and mountains that turned away most things without them even noticing they were retracing their steps. For anything openly hostile, there were barriers and wards, and a team of efficient, well trained weres and warriors to deal with them if they got too close.

Those wards gave warning of incoming refugees, and the children currently crouched nearby were part of that group, not confident enough yet to join in with the playful weretiger. They were exchanging stories with some of the older residents instead, telling tales of the world outside the valley. Yuri listened idly as he watched his husband frolic, killing the last few minutes before he was due to go on patrol.

“I'm telling you, it's true. I knew a guy who'd seen it!”

“It's rubbish... no way. Even if it was a were, there's no _way_ it'd be in charge of humans...”

“It's not a were” the child's voice was hushed, and Yuri felt the fear in his words. “It's a monster... it walks like a human, but its got claws and sharp teeth... and it eats people who don't do as their told...”

“Load of crap. I bet it's just a story the gangs use to keep their thugs in line.”

“They say it stalks Rome at night... it won't go out during the day... but when it's hunting, it can run across rooftops and see in the dark... if it wants to eat you, you've got no chance.”

“Is it true that it's white?” Yuri twitched, turning his head to listen more closely.

“Yeah... all apart from its hair... it's got this thick, black hair like a mane... and a tail like a tiger...”

Kneeling beside the group, Yuri fixed the speaker with his softest look. “Where did you hear this story?” The older kids shivered at the sight of him, but the new arrivals didn't know to fear him yet. He felt Otabek's attention on him, curious to see him interacting with children, and the weretiger padded over to sit beside him. Unconsciously, Yuri knotted his hand in Otabek's fur as the child answered.

“The Thunder Kings in Rome... that's the name of the biggest gang... it's supposed to be their leader... they tell stories about it to scare other gangs off their territory.”

Yuri's breath caught. “Is it true?”

The children just shrugged.

* * *

Yuri paced the floor of Yakov's study, hands tucked under his armpits as he thought. Otabek perched on the back of the couch, Yakov and Lilia sat on the reclining chairs opposite.

“It's not impossible” Yakov broke the long silence, and Yuri growled.

“All this time... all this time it was still alive... and now what, it's in charge of human criminals??”

“It's a predator at heart, if it could avoid detection until it learned the ways of the city, it may have risen to the top out of sheer strength and viciousness.”

“How many people has it killed since I let it go...”

“Stop that” Otabek snapped, and Yuri stared at him in astonishment, unused to the harsh tone. “You didn't _let it go,_ _we_ made a logical decision based on what we _both_ knew at the time. Any... any deaths aren't on us...”

“ _We made it... and we let it escape_ ” Yuri snarled, “ _every_ death is on us. Every  _single_ one.” Otabek hung his head, wincing at the fury from the witch.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Lilia tapped her long fingernails on the arm of her chair to get their attention. “Are you going to go to Rome?”

“Yes” Yuri nodded, and Otabek made a noise of agreement. “Just me though” the blonde added, and the weretiger snarled warningly. “Don't argue” he added, “you _know_ you can't go. The travel alone would take you through at least one full moon... besides, I need you to stay here and lead the Rangers while I'm away.”

“Yura...”

“You can yell at me when I get back” Yuri shook his head, and Otabek clenched his jaw. “You know I'm right” the blonde added softly, and the weretiger stood up with a snarl.

“Doesn't mean I have to like it” he replied, stalking out of the room and slamming the door behind him. Yuri sighed.

“I don't like it either” Yakov volunteered, and the witch gave him a withering look.

“I should make you come with me” he said, “I could use the extra firepower. Shame you're too damn old.”

“Cheeky welp” Yakov shrugged conversationally, the bickering familiar and welcome. His expression showed his concern though, and Yuri touched his shoulder briefly.

“I'll be back as soon as I can” he promised, trying to ignore the gnawing doubt in his heart.

* * *

They sat in silence, waiting for the heat of the day to diminish before Yuri set out. Autumn was the best time of year for travelling; in summer the sun scorched the land and set wildfires across the forests, and in winter the snows piled thick and impassable, seasonal floods stripping the topsoil and turning the lowlands into stagnant, infertile swamps. Autumn and spring were a little less hostile to life, although the risk of human-on-human violence was heightened as people moved from shattered town to shattered town, searching for resources. The journey to Rome would take months of careful travel, avoiding populated areas where possible and taking shelter from the unpredictable squalls and blizzards of the lower alps.

“Don't do this. I'm begging you, Yuri... don't go.”

Yuri rested his head on Otabek's shoulder, closing his eyes at the wobble of pain and fear in his husband's voice. “I can't live with myself if I don't” he murmured, and the weretiger linked their hands in a shaking grip.

“I'll help you through it... you can spend the rest of your life doing good works to make up for it... whatever you need... just please, please don't leave me...”

“What if the creature is immortal, unkillable by human means? We have _no idea_ what it's capable of... the damage it could do... I nearly killed it before, Lilia confirmed that. I can finish it...”

“You're going to die” the words were soft, and Yuri shook his head.

“Have faith in me...”

“I _feel_ it” Otabek murmured, twisting his wedding ring on the chain around his neck. “I don't know how, or why... but I know I'm never going to see you again...”

“Listen to me” Yuri sat up and took Otabek's face between his hands, smoothing back his hair as he gazed into the weretiger's huge brown eyes. “I can beat him. I'm coming back. _”_

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Unclasping his necklace, Otabek slipped the ring from it and placed it on Yuri's left hand, nestled above the witch's own wedding band. Yuri stared at it.

“What are you...”

“You have to bring this back to me” the weretiger told him, pressing his lips against the set of rings. “No excuses. No matter what, you have to bring my ring back. OK?”

“OK” Yuri whispered, and Otabek rose, scrubbing the tears from his cheeks.

“Go” he said, turning his back. “Don't make me wait too long for you.”

Wordlessly, Yuri hitched up his rucksack and headed for the door, leaving the weretiger staring out of the window over the mountains, shoulders quivering with repressed sobs.


	13. Chapter 13

Stepping noiselessly into the dark room, Yuri eased his silver knives from his belt, looking for a good ambush spot. Making his way to the dark corner beside the curtain, he twitched the fabric aside to make room to hide, and recoiled in shock as pale eyes met his own. Leaping backwards, Yuri lost his balance as the creature slipped out from behind the curtain, one of his knives skittering away as his shoulder blades hit the floor.

“You have such a distinctive scent” the creature knelt on his arm, using its weight to pin him to the floor. Catching his wrist as Yuri swiped with the remaining blade, it looked at him sadly for a moment before yanking, dislocating his shoulder with a crack. Yuri cried out, gritting his teeth against the flood of pain and nausea at the injury. “I picked up your approach ages ago... decided to hide and wait for you. Great minds think alike, I suppose.”

Trying to move the creature was impossible, it reminded Yuri of Otabek's weight in human form. The density was incredible, he could feel the strength in its legs as it trapped his dislocated arm beneath its other knee. Twisting and writhing got him nowhere, and he snarled up at it helplessly. To his horror, the creature responded with a soft smile and bent, touching their noses together.

“I've missed you Yuri... so much. My people joke that I have a very specific taste in men... the only ones I eat are always green eyed blondes...”

“Eat... you _eat_ people?!”

The creature sighed, closing its eyes as it ran its fingers through Yuri's hair. “They never satisfy me... they're not _you,_ no matter how I dress them up or make them act... I even let one stab me once, to see if it would be the same... its never enough... but tasting them gets me close. So _close_... but now you're _here_ , you've come back to me... you're _mine_...”

“I'm here to kill you” Yuri hissed, and the pale eyes snapped open, an expression of deep sorrow on the creature's face.

“Mother wouldn't allow that.”

“She sanctioned it... she asked only that I make it quick and clean.”

“Well... you've failed on two fronts then” the creature leaned back and almost casually snapped Yuri's other arm, smirking as the blonde screamed. “You haven't killed me... and this is going to be far from quick or clean.” Picking up Yuri's wrist, it ignored his howl as it turned his hand over and dragged the two rings from his finger. “What's this? Wedding rings? That _creature_ managed to brand you in such an ugly way?”

“F-fuck y-you” Yuri managed, and the creature tutted, sitting more comfortably on his hips. The weight made his pelvis creak, and he groaned at the new source of pain.

“It's not too late” the creature leaned forward suddenly, eyes gleaming with intensity. “You can still live through this... just say that you love me, that you'll stay here with me... we can wear these rings and live forever... I can make it happen, I think you know that... just tell me you love me, Yuri, and I'll heal you, I'll even stop hurting the humans! We can leave here, go somewhere just us...”

“You make me s-sick” Yuri gasped, closing his eyes as the creature's breath washed over his face, hot and meaty. “The sight of you... the sound of your voice... it turns my stomach... _I'll never love you... no matter how much you hurt me, I'll never say it!”_

“You can't even pretend, to give yourself time to try and kill me?” the creature sounded disappointed, weaving its fingers into Yuri's hair. The witch responded by spitting directly into its face and it reared back, digging its claws into his chest as it wiped the saliva away. His shout of pain as it clawed at him made it curl its lip. “Of course not... you're far too proud for that. Oh Yuri... my beautiful Yuri... what am I going to do with you?”

Yuri shuddered as the creature rose, aware that the shifting of weight had fractured something inside his torso. He could taste blood in his throat, the pain washing over him in waves, none of his limbs responding to his attempts to rise. “Just kill me” he hissed, “get it over with...”

“I'm afraid not” the creature rang a bell, and two humans appeared in the doorway, eyeing the blonde on the floor with curiosity. “I'm not giving up on you so easily... the problem is _him_... if he doesn't love you, then you're free to love me, right?!” The two humans picked Yuri up, ignoring his ragged scream of rage at the creature's words. The movement jolted his broken body and he passed out, hanging limply in their arms.

“Take him to the ritual room and prep him.”

* * *

Pain brought Yuri back to consciousness, and he stared up at the ceiling, confused and disoriented as he gazed at his own reflection. He was naked apart from his underwear, his limbs tied to the four points of a pentagram, his head on the fifth. Around him on the floor were ritual ingredients that he recognised; live creatures in jars, bundles of herbs, dishes of liquids and braziers burning foul smelling concoctions. Looking back at his body, he shivered as he instinctively translated the runes that had been carved into his skin.

“What are you doing to me...”

“The runes are a binding spell” the creature stepped into his line of sight and he winced as it began to rub oil over his body. The same runes gleamed on its skin, carved deep with a silver blade, judging by the lack of healing. “We're linked, you and I... this just makes it more durable... and _him_ , of course. Can't forget _him_...”

“Otabek...” Yuri flinched as the creature slapped him across the face, hard. “You hate him that much, you can't even bare to hear his name...”

“It defiles me” the creature shrugged, “a constant reminder of where I came from. A reminder of why you can't love me...”

“ _It has nothing to do with him_ ” Yuri gasped, desperately. The creature shrugged.

“It doesn't matter... the next time we meet, you'll have forgotten all about him... and he'll be long dead by then. Old age” the creature noticed Yuri's horrified expression, “don't worry. I'm not going to taint our new life together by murdering your beloved husband.”

“I don't... what are you saying...” Yuri tried to pull away as the creature bent and pressed its lips against his, and got a fresh surge of agony from his shoulder as a reward. The thing tasted of cooked meat and bitters, and he gagged as its tongue explored the inside of his mouth for a moment. When it pulled away he turned his head and spat, venom filling his gaze.

“Soon you'll appreciate me... soon, I'll be the light in your darkness” the creature knelt between Yuri's thighs and raised its arms above its head, igniting fire from its fingertips and wreathing itself in flames as it began to raise power for the ritual. “I'll be the only one who understands you... who knows why you are who you are... when you return to me, I'll be waiting for you with open arms... and you'll know no other love to take my place.”

Magic whipped inside the circle, drawing power from the ingredients and the linked beings within its perimeter. Yuri ground his teeth as agony flowed through him. “W-what are you _doing_ ” he screamed, as the creature began incanting in a strange, ancient language. The squall inside the circle rose and rose until a shockwave rolled over them and the jars shattered, components smoking and charring as their power was exhausted. The creature sagged, resting its head on Yuri's knee for a moment as it caught its breath.

“Wh-what...”

“One last step” the creature murmured, stretching out until it was lying beside Yuri, its cheek on his shoulder. Tracing the pads of its fingers over his body, it pulled him into a soft kiss, ignoring his shudder of horror at the touches. “One last thing, and you'll be mine... goodbye my love. I'll see you again soon... oh, I can't _wait_ to taste you...”

Yuri opened his mouth to retort and gasped as he felt claws sink through the flesh of his inner thigh, deep and true as they severed the artery. Eyes widening, he stared up at the mirror, distractedly noticing the fresh cracks in the glass as he watched the pool of blood spreading on the floor. Yuri's vision began to darken, the creature lying beside him, caressing his skin and pressing light kisses against his cheek and throat as his life ran out of him.

* * *

_Yuri sat bolt upright with a scream, startling Otabek out of a doze. As the weretiger pulled him into his arms, he thrashed against him for long moments before the disorientation faded and he recognised the stone walls of his room at Illforte. Screams gave way to wracking sobs and Otabek held him tightly, rocking him and making soothing noises as their friends burst into the room, drawn by the sudden sounds of distress. It took him hours to calm down, and hours after that to fall into a weary, uneasy sleep. Otabek refused to leave his side, helping him bathe and dress when he finally felt able to get up._

_Once he was able to keep down food and water, Yakov came to the room to see him. As the tiny blonde raised his head, the warlock sighed, recognising the look in his eyes._

_“It's starting again, isn't it. You're going to leave...”_

_“No!” Otabek shook his head, face knotted. “Yuri... you promised you'd stay this time... for me...”_

_“You haven't told him?” Yakov raised an eyebrow, and Yuri closed his eyes._

_“Otabek, would you please give us a minute?”_

_“Wh-what?”_

_“Please... I need to talk to Yakov alone...”_

_Rising, the weretiger fixed the warlock with a confused, heartbroken look. “Please don't let him... don't...”_

_“He's not going anywhere... not yet, anyway” Yakov closed the door behind Otabek and leaned against it, eyeing the blonde._

_“What happened to him?”_

_“How much do you remember?”_

_“I remember my first life... and death. After that it... blurs... the details change but the themes are the same. I come here, I remember, I leave, I die. What happened to Otabek? How is he still alive?”_

_Yakov shrugged, sitting on the end of the bed. “You figured it out a few lifetimes ago... the best we can tell, the ritual that bound you to Yurabek also bound Otabek, probably unintentionally. His life force is tied to the creature... as long as it's alive, so is he.”_

_“His memory...”_

_“One day, about two months after you left for Rome, he collapsed in the middle of the yard. When he woke up he... he'd forgotten you. He knew everything else... his life, his family, coming here...”_

_“Yurabek expected him to die. He expected me to be reborn with no memory... he was waiting for me to come back to him.”_

_“You've said that before... but you never told me_ why. _”_

_Yuri lay back on the pillows, covering his eyes with his arm. The sense of dislocation was unreal, his body strange and unfamiliar. He expected to feel a long braid nestled against his shoulders, to feel a powerful, rugged, middle aged form instead of the slender young adult. Forcing himself to take deep breaths, he thought about Yakov's question. “How much does Otabek know?”_

_“Nothing” Yakov shook his head, sighing. “Every time you die, he loses his memories of you again... it's like he resets to that original version of himself, immediately after the ritual. For him, every time is as if he's only just arrived here.”_

_“How do you explain that to the others?”_

_“I lie” Yakov shrugged, and Yuri raised an eyebrow. “I tell them that Otabek has a condition that affects his memory... that it would cause him distress if he found out how much he's forgotten... people respect that and stay quiet. Each reincarnation takes time, as you have to wait for a suitable body to be born into your bloodline. The gap between your returns has been getting longer... Celestino is the only one here who remembers your last life, and knows what happened to Otabek after you died. He's sworn to secrecy, of course...”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because you have never told Otabek the truth” Yakov's voice turned cold, and Yuri hunched defensively. “For many reasons, I suspect, but mostly because you still blame yourself... and if you told him, you know he'd blame_ himself _... something you don't want.”_

_“It wasn't his fault...”_

_“He thought it was. At the start... you had to return to Illforte without finishing the job because of him. Then you couldn't take him with you... and you died. He always blamed himself... and you hated that. You never wanted him to feel that way again... so you didn't tell him. You just...”_

_“I left... tried again and again to kill Yurabek...”_

_“You made notes on what you could remember each time. They're in the vault. Do you have anything new?”_

_“Yes” Yuri nodded, fingers clenching in the bedsheets. “I know what he's trying to do... what he's making Lilia help him with.”_

_Yakov's breath caught. “Lilia... she's still with him?”_

_“She is.” Yuri shook his head, an ache of memory in his heart. “I... I think I'm running out of time.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Like you said, the gaps between reincarnations are getting longer... I think my bloodline is dying out. My parents this time... my mother lost several children before she had me... my siblings were all from my father's previous marriage. If the same holds for the other branches...”_

_“If you no longer have a bloodline, the reincarnations will stop. Yuri that's... that's_ good, _isn't it? You can just live your life... stay here with Otabek... you might not be reborn again! You'd be free!”_

 _“No” Yuri shook his head, pushing himself out of bed and tugging on his shirt. “You don't understand. I_ have _to finish this... I have to kill Yurabek. I_ have _to.”_

 _“Why?! What is so important that you've thrown away thirteen lifetimes?! That you'll throw away another one... what might be your_ last _one?”_

_Yuri stopped and stared out of the window, watching the late March snowfall as his mind drifted over the inside of Yurabek's laboratory, the glimpses he'd managed to get of the research before he'd been caught and dragged before the creature, to play out the game of rejection and death once more._

_“I have to stop him Yakov... because now I know what he's trying to create.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the last chapter! 
> 
> Book 2 has been so much fun to write. I've been looking forward to telling the story of Yurabek's creation, although he ended up waaaay darker than even I anticipated! I loved reading everyone's reactions to these chapters too!
> 
> The final book, "Choices", is in progress at the moment, but I have a number of bangs to clear before I can begin posting it. I hope you'll bear with me, I promise it'll be worth the wait! I'm hoping to get it finished before November, so I can post the chapters while working on NaNoWriMo this year <3 
> 
> Until then, do follow me on twitter or tumblr for my shitposts, fanart and updates on the bangs, as well as the one-shots that we all know will be coming over the next few months XD

**Author's Note:**

> I draw a lot of tiger inspiration from the wonderful videos by [Big Cat Derek](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC10bxQVVz1dJSIUC-f5hJdA) and the CARE Rescue Texas team. If you love big cats, check them out! 
> 
> This story is part of the [ LLF Comment Project ](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject) which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
> Short comments  
> Long comments  
> Questions  
> readers talking to each other!
> 
> I reply to all comments eventually!
> 
> * * *
> 
> [Links](https://linktr.ee/artofsilvandar) to my online accounts  
> I love talking to people, so please follow me on Twitter or Tumblr! Or visit [Legacy Discord](https://discord.gg/Nc6PKeP) to chat about this series  
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> Some of my other fics you might enjoy:  
> ["Bratva on Ice"](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1173482) my Otayuri Mafia AU  
> Canon based Kink!Otayuri fans[ click here!](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1144475)  
> Vampire/Nephilim OtaYuri AU[ A Kiss To Remember](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1197235) Winner of NaNoWriMo 2018  
> Multi fandom [drabbles and one-shots](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1298186)  
> 


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